The Unforgettable Summer
by hopelessromantic1990
Summary: Edward and Bella have been separated for years and reunite during a life changing summer neither one of them will ever forget. Love, loss, and learning to live all play a factor. Please Read & Review! Enjoy!
1. An Early Start

**Hey All!! So, this is my first fan fic that's not a one shot -- please read it, review it - if you liked it recommend it and if you didn't let me know what you think I should change!!! Enjoy!! ******

The alarm buzzed and my sleepy eyes splintered open, beginning to take in the view of the rising hazy summer sun I realized I hadn't changed my alarm settings to account for the lovely no school existence that was summer vacation…. It was 7am and I had the whole day ahead of me.

I decided to get up anyway, taking the first day of summer '09 by the horns and making the most of it. I started a pot of coffee, took a fast shower, threw on my favorite beat up cut off shorts my white old navy flip flops and a navy blue tank top, fixed my hair in a side ponytail and then went about making myself a breakfast of scrambled eggs and buttered rye toast.

I had no idea what lie ahead of me that day. All my friends were back in Arizona, but I was spending the summer with my dad, Charlie, in Forks Washington. It was my first summer back there since I was 8 – I was 18 now…Any friends I had had here I assumed didn't remember me and I certainly wasn't going to be having any good times with Charlie (the man liked two things: his job and baseball; not that he didn't love me, we just didn't have much in common). And he was going to be working over time most likely, the one thing I did remember from my old summer visits was that the minimal crime rate Forks has increases ½ a percent in the summer b/c kids are home and are likely to easily get into trouble…

I decided I would walk down to the local bookstore, it was pretty generic but once and a while they'd have a really unique find, plus it was an easy way to kill the time; and then I'd go to lunch at the new café that had opened. Charlie couldn't stop talking about it on our ride from the airport, it had made the local paper and been the talk of the town for weeks prior to (and after) it's opening because it was such "big news", I figured I mine as well give it a try…

I walked into the bookstore, finding it just as quiet as it always had been. I had to admit, the selection had improved since my last visit, and for that I was glad. I headed to the back in hopes of finding a cheap used book I could read during my down time.

As I walked into the disheveled back room, filled to the brim with used books of every topic and genre, I realized I wasn't alone. I turn to my left and my eyes fall upon a 6'4 bronzed haired god. Wearing a plain black t-shirt, ripped jeans and black converse sneakers his hair was messy but in that good way that would make a nun's knees buckle. He was reading and so he hadn't yet noticed me, so me being shy and unwilling to socialize I tried to sneak out of the room but while doing so I knocked over a stack of "What to Expect When You're Expecting", and needless to say he noticed me, I was so embarrassed – red began to creep up my neck into my cheeks.

As I, in my mortified state, began to restore the stack he approached me and asked if I needed help. He was on his knees and very close to my face since I was also on the ground cleaning and I was able to get a better look at him – He had piercing eyes that almost looked bronze (if that's even an eye color…), he had a strong jaw line and a great smile. Needless to say I couldn't form a coherent thought to answer him saying I was fine and could handle it on my own – nope I just shook my head. None of that matters though, because he helped me put the books back anyway. By the time the stack was restored I had slightly regained my ability to speak and said "Thanks."

I thought that was going to be the end of my encounter with the mystery hottie but he prolonged it saying "Any time. My name's Edward. Edward Cullen."

My mind was rushing – I remembered Edward Cullen from my childhood summers. We used to play together…his dad and my dad were pretty friendly and we'd have family BBQs together on what used to feel like a weekly basis; man had he changed…

The last time I saw Edward he had a mushroom cut and still had some baby fat – he was 6 and I was 5. He told me his family was moving because his dad had taken a job as a doctor for a missionary base in the poor villages of the Turks and Caicos Islands. He made me a mud pie to remember him by.

I hadn't even heard mention of him until this very moment, I wondered if he'd remember me. I braced myself and exhaled "Hey – I'm Bella."

"Bella?"

I just looked at him, slightly confused if he was questioning me or his memory.

"Does the mystifying young lady have a last name?" he continued.

"Oh – sorry – Swan. Bella Swan."

His jaw dropped open and he just stared at me.

"Bella?!? Oh my God! You've changed so much!"

I laughed – "I could say the same for you --- it's been a long time…"

"Yeah – it's got have been – what like—"

"13 years."

"Shit that's a long time…"

"Poetic."

"Thanks, I try."

We both laughed as a slightly awkward silence settled, neither of us knowing how to proceed.

He smiled and shook his head, looking a bewildered and amazed. "So, what brings you to this fine establishment?"

I laughed at his attempt to break the ice with humor before telling him "Just looking for something good to occupy my time. It gets a little boring just sitting around Charlie's all day."

"Ahh I see, yeah I'm pretty much doing the same thing…"

"Any recommendations?"

"Hmm – I don't know – I read this one book, The Stranger, it's by Albert Camus – it was pretty interesting."

"The Stranger? Ehh – I read that book a couple months back– it looked interesting but oh my – I definitely struggled to get through it – I don't know how anyone could find that book enjoyable."

He took a step in front of me and in a joking defensive like way said "Well, I found it enjoyable."

At that moment my phone buzzed with a text from Charlie telling me he would meet me at the café for lunch in 5 minutes, so instead of dragging the conversation on I just smiled, looked up at Edward and said "Well then maybe you just don't have that good of taste in books. See you around Cullen" and walked out.

**Ok - Hope you enjoyed it!!! Now please please please review and recommend!! ******


	2. Confusion

**Hope your all loving the story -- Please Read, Review and Recommend!! ******** Thank you!! Enjoy!**

Edward's POV

Did that really just happen?

Did I really just reunite with my one time best friend Bella Swan, argue about a book and watch her walk out?

I ran after her, hoping to catch her and maybe get her number so we could hang out and catch up, but she was gone.

I got into my silver Volvo and headed home, thinking about how different she looked. The last time I had seen Bella swan she had braided pig tails, a scab on her elbow and a band aid on her knee. Height wise she came up to where my knee is now, and she most definitely did not have breasts.

Now – oh god – now she had to be 5'8" at least, maybe 6'…Her hair was a deep chestnut brown and was long flowing down a bit past her shoulders in sexy waves that would make a priest take a second look. She was dressed simply but she had to have been one of the sexiest girls I'd ever seen. Her tank top hugged her curves in a flattering manner and her long legs were like perfect stems that ended at her shorts which framed her butt perfectly.

I wanted to see her again, just to talk. Well, and maybe the talking would lead to us kissing and maybe the kissing would lead to --

What was I doing?!?!? Was I really going to start fanaticizing about Bella Swan?? I don't even know if she wants anything to do with me. I don't even know a way to get back in touch with her…

The idea hit me --- FACEBOOK.

Yes that was it – I would add her on facebook and all would be right with the world!

Right?

Oh my God!!! What was I getting myself into – just become friends and take it from there, I kept having to remind myself.

I had arrived home and decided maybe it wasn't to fill my family in my little discovery just yet; so I went to my room and just looked through some old photos of me and my old friend Bella.

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Bella's POV

Lunch with Charlie had gone pretty well. The café was nice and definitely had better options then the local diner we usually dined at. I got a cob salad and surprise surprise Charlie got a bacon burger.

I hadn't actually completed my mission for the day, getting a new book, so I settled for re-reading my cheesy as hell old favorite: Romeo and Juliet.

It was pretty nice out, so I took the book to the lawn and attempted to read while lying in Charlie's hammock. My first attempt failed because I couldn't actually get on and ended up falling flat on my face; my second attempt failed because as soon as I tried to start reading my thoughts drifted to Edward.

It was crazy to see him like that, just out of the blue. I wondered why he was back in Forks, how long he had been back for, what school he was going to – if he was going to school, what he thought about me…

I was especially curious about that last one…I'd be lying if I said he hadn't caught my attention – he was gorgeous and we had a friendship filled history – we were both obviously bored with our summer in Forks, hence the bookstore…perhaps we could solve each others' boredom?

What was I thinking – Edward Cullen would definitely not be interested in me and would never see me in the way I saw him today.

But it was nice to dream, and so I went back to my daydreams of he and I holding hands and walking through the forest, us swimming in the lake, us laughing as we ate watermelon…wow what was I twelve? I guess those are the types of daydreams you have when you're as inexperienced as me.

I was going to be turning 19 in a little over a month and I had never had a real relationship, had never been in love, and hadn't even had my first kiss.

I must be delusional if I thought Edward would ever want me in any way, but if I was thinking beyond friendship then I must be psychotic….

And yet it was still nice to dream.

My dreaming was unfortunately interrupted by Charlie coming around to remind me we had to go to the town cook out the next evening, him being the chief of police and all. I told him that it was cool and then decided to get a head start on making dinner.

Great – tons of people I'd be forced to greet that I wouldn't remember but would have to pretend to and then socialize with all night…Whoop- Eee…

As my thoughts moved to what I could potentially wear I tossed a salad and tried to avoid any thoughts involving him, our past together, or our encounter at the book store.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!! Please Review and either Recommend or Constructively Critique ;) **

**Thanks!!! ******


	3. A Cookout and a Conversation

**Hey to all of those who made it this far – I know the previous chapters were too short and under detailed….Unfortunately I suffered from anxious to post syndrome and definitely posted them before they were ready so I'm going back and revamping them but wanted to get these next few chapters up anyway…**

**Hopefully this will make up for them….**

**Enjoy!! Please R&R**

**Thanks!!!!**

Bella's POV

I awoke the next morning to the shining sun with a sense of dread – I had been hoping it'd rain so the cook out would be canceled and I'd be spared the torture but no such luck for me.

I had a good hour before I had to start getting ready for the cookout so I decided to take a third whack at reading in the hammock.

I walked outside – not a cloud in the sky, damn it – and got on the hammock with the grace of a swan. I was in the middle of the scene at the ball where Romeo first sees Juliet for the first time when Charlie came around with the lawn mower bellowing "Bella! Shouldn't you be getting ready! It's almost noon!" over the motor.

Despite not wanting to stop before getting to the good part, I closed the book, deciding that I could always read it at the cook out, that is once Charlie's show and tell dies down, and headed into the house.

Once showered and clean I went about picking my outfit – I wanted to wear something that would feel like me, but I also didn't want to disappoint Charlie by looking too casual. I ended up going with a pair of dark jean capris that were cuffed at the bottom and paired them with a classy, white V-neck top that was sleeveless but had thick straps, to please Charlie. I threw on a pair of simple white tennis sneakers and put my hair up in a ponytail. I had just managed to complete my simplistic look with a coat of mascara and clear lip gloss that I threw in my bag (along with my book) before Charlie yelled up to tell me it was time to get going.

The drive to the local park where the cookout was being held had been a quiet one. I had half suspected Charlie would have given me the lowdown on who I'd be seeing and reminding of faces that should be familiar, but he didn't he just kept quiet and had this anxious, sort of happy, excited look on his face – almost as if it were my birthday and he was waiting to reveal a gift that he knew I'd love…it was really strange.

Once we arrived the look sort of faded and the "hellos" began. So many faces, so many names – none of which I could match together…the amount of times I was forced to answer the questions of how old was I, What school was going to be going to in that fall, how I liked being back, what I was up to for the summer – and so many more but I won't put you through that agony – should be declared cruel and unusual punishment!

I was finally able to escape to a table a bit backed away from the crowd to enjoy my burger and read my book , when, just as Romeo was declaring he loved Juliet, Charlie approached, wearing that goofy face from the car again, saying he had someone he wanted me to say hi to; I closed my book and looked up as Charlie continued "Bells, you remember --"

I cut him off, "Edward Cullen." I squeaked before Charlie had a chance to get it out.

Charlie looked confused, "yea – but – how did you know that it's been – oh gosh --"

This time it was Edward who cut Charlie off, "13 years."

Now Charlie was really shocked, "Yea - but - how --"

Edward cut Charlie off again as I just smiled quietly shocked and amused by the entire situation, trying to ignore the fact my heart skipped a beat when I had first spotted him.

"Well Chief Sawn, Bella and I actually ran into each other at the bookstore yesterday. We didn't get to talk much because she was in a rush but it was certainly an interesting encounter."

Charlie looked at me, perplexed, and asked "Bells why didn't you mention you'd run into Edward - I would've stopped all the secrecy and told he was going to be here…"

"It must've slipped my mind," I said simply as I gazed at Edward trying to figure out what was going through his head.

Just as I was mentally evaluating the sexiness level of Edward compared to the previous day, he was now wearing a grey sleeveless muscle shirt that showed off his flawless muscles, knee length jean shorts and dark brown leather sandals; his hair was expertly tousled and his smile was gleaming, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Edward's father approached us.

His greeting, "Hello Isabella, my how you've grown!" pulled me out of reverie and luckily I was able to form a coherent response, "Hi Dr. Cullen it's nice to see you again!"

Charlie directed the conversation more in the adults direction asking a question related to an accident that happened a week or two back and so Edward took it as an opportunity for us to break away.

He walked toward the table I'd been sitting at and indicated the book on the table, "Guess you didn't have much luck at the bookstore?" Edward laughed.

I shook my head and just said, "Romeo and Juliet happens to be one of my favorites…" Edward just looked at me, not buying that I had really intended to re-read the Shakespeare classic and so I gave in and continued, "and so when I had no luck at the bookstore - I decided to re-read it - When I realized it was one of the only books I had at Charlie's house."

Edward nodded and laughed, having known that was my true motivation for reading it all along, but vocally he played along, saying "I see I see" in a fairly patronizing manner.

I was tired of this bull shit of us just discussing books and so I jumped right in saying, "So when did your family come back to Forks?"

He just looked at me, almost as if he hadn't expected me to try and connect the past with the present; like he thought we were going to avoid the fact we had a history, but I just looked right back at him waiting for an answer. He finally smiled, after a short pause, in defeat and began his story.

"Well, actually not that long ago. We got to the island and it was a really great experience - they acted as if Carlisle was a miracle worker even he was just doing something completely minor like wrapping a sprained ankle in an ace bandage… Rosalie, Alice and I helped out too we would hang out with the kids and help teach them to read or just play games, keep them entertained…My mom put her cooking skills to work, setting up a sort of community cafeteria where people could come for a good meal. She'd cook for hundreds; three meals, every day. Things were going great and the region was making a lot of progress - once I was a bit older I actually helped them with building a school, but right around my 17th birthday the funding for the program was cut and so we came back to Forks. It wasn't such a big deal for Rosalie and Alice, Rosalie was in college already and Alice was starting that fall, but I was going in to my senior year so I had to completely re-adjust to the way my family was living."

I couldn't help but interrupt him, "Wow - that's so intense…I mean it sucks that you had to come back and get thrown into high school as a senior but - you built a school? That's so incredibly awesome…"

Edward chuckled to himself, "Thanks -- I actually want to go back sometime to see how they're doing, but it just wasn't in the cards for this summer…"

"So how'd you do - readjusting I mean…" I inquired.

"Well it was a little weird at first - kind of how it is for you now I guess, re-meeting people from childhood but it was cool in the end I made a couple good friends that I still keep in touch with…"

"That's cool…so what are you up to now -- school? What about Rosalie? And Alice? Your parents??"

He laughed and shook his head at my abundance of questions.

"Sorry," I said, "I'm just really curious to see how everybody's doing -- I used to consider Alice and Rosalie to be my older sister's too" I laughed at my childish notion.

"Well," he began, "Rosalie went to NYU, and she graduated last spring. She's 23 and living in Manhattan with her boyfriend Emmett. You actually might remember him - he was that bigger kid who used tease us a little? Knocked us off the swings once or twice??"

The memories came flooding back, "Oh wow - yeah - I do remember him actually…He made me cry once." I laughed at what a small world it was.

"Yeah," Edward continued, "well he's a lot cooler now. My parents and I have a theory that he's probably going to propose to her before Christmas…"

"So they're pretty serious then?" I pondered.

"Yea - they've been going out since Rosalie was a freshman there. He actually came down to Turks that summer, helped with the school and helped us pack, too."

"What about Alice?" I asked him.

"Hah," Edward laughed, "She's doing great! She's 19 but she'll be turning 20 in August. She's a junior at Harvard, studying communications and marketing. Right now she's visiting Rosalie in NY but she should be getting in tomorrow night."

"Wow - Harvard! Go Alice!" I interjected.

"Yea, mom and dad are REAL proud…speaking of which my dad's back at the hospital and my mom's actually trying to get a book she wrote about our time in Turks published -- that's why she's not here, she had a meeting in Seattle with her editor…"

"Wow - you guys go away for a few years and you come back as superstars," I laughed.

"Yea - it started as a journal she was just keeping for herself but then she had this brainstorm to share our experiences with others, so more people can understand that it's not just a pretty beach area with a Sandals resort…"

"Hmm - that's amazing -- I can't wait to talk to her about it!"

"She'd definitely love your opinion on it," Edward told me.

"Well, Mr. Cullen, you've told me all I need to know about literally every other member of your family - but what about you? What are you up to these days?"

He laughed lightly, "Me -- there's not much there…I just finished my freshman year at Washington University in St. Louis and I'm unemployed thanks to the sucky economy…"

Bella laughed, her being in the same unemployed plight, "What are you studying Mr. Unemployed?"

"I'm double majoring in humanities and environmental studies and I'm minoring in music."

I was taken aback, "You certainly gave yourself a work load…"

"Well I really want to make my life about helping people, being in Turks really had an impact on me and I'd love to do work like that for the rest of my life…so that's where the Humanities comes in, and I figure why help people if the world we live in's just going to suck anyway so I'm interested in helping the environment, there you have the environmental studies. And then I just really love music - I like the way it can bond all different types of people together - regardless of age or gender or culture or race or well anything really -- everyone can get behind a song no matter what else they have in common. So I'm minoring in music…"

"Wow. You continue to amaze me -- who would have known that the boy who prided himself on his mud pies would grow up to be this deep."

We shared a laugh at the change I had noted and then it was my turn to answer questions.

"So Swan, you're going to be heading off to college this fall, right?"

"Yep." I nodded, hating the fact it was time for me to talk about myself.

"Where are you off to?"

"I will be at Princeton, studying English and minoring in undecided - I know I want to in something I just haven't narrowed it down yet…"I disclosed.

"Well what are the options?"

"I really like history so I was thinking about that, but then I thought it might be cool to minor in a language so I could travel and not sound like a silly tourist, and then I got to thinking about if I travelled there would be a lot of museums and art work that I should have knowledge of, so I thought about maybe minoring in art. But I really have no idea."

"Wow - those are some wide spread options…I take it your main priority is to travel though."

"Yes - definitely - I want to see every part of the world I can! And I don't just mean your typical tour of Europe - though I am dying to explore that continent - I also want to go to less developed places and help out, Africa, the islands….I guess I should really make a priority list or something; right now I'm all over the map."

Edward laughed at my ambitious goal but didn't mock it, in fact he gave me advice on how to achieve it, "Well, word to the wise, when you do go about reaching these lofty goals, alternate go on a fun Europe trip then a working, volunteer trip and go back and forth that way you get to do both in a shorter amount of time - plus it will make more interesting if you switch up the areas more often," he smiled.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind, thanks."

A slight lull fell into the conversation and so I asked, "Any advice on how to have fun around here?"

Edward laughed and shook his head, "not really - if you figure it out let me know though."

We both laughed at how boring Forks could be before he continued, "no but in all seriousness, there's not much to do - a lot of times you have to make your own fun - at least that's what me and my friends do…in fact - we're all heading down to La Push beach tomorrow night for a campfire - slash - beach party. You should come!"

I smiled at Edward's invitation and said "I'd love to."

Edward looked surprised at my answer but in a happy way, "Great! I can you pick up at - say 7:00?"

"Sounds good," I beamed.

"What's your number just in case I have to contact you or something?" Edward said as he casually tried to get my number.

I smiled, trying not to let him know I was on to him, and gave him my number, then he texted me so I'd have his.

We had been walking throughout the entire conversation and so we were just heading back, laughing about the time we had sprayed silly string in Rosalie's hair while she was sleeping when I heard Charlie calling for me, saying we had to head home. I was surprised we were going home so early and snuck a peek at the time on my phone - it was past midnight!

We both laughed at our total obliviousness to the time and I quipped, "I guess it's true what they say - time flies when you're having fun!"

We laughed at my cheesiness and then I asked him, "So, do you have a facebook?"

He smiled to himself and said, "Uhh yea - um - I actually already added you…"

"Oh," I was stunned, "Well I guess I'll head home and confirm that."

"Heh - yea" was his reply, I think he might have been a little embarrassed at his rapid speed to add me.

We said our goodbyes, awkwardly not knowing whether to hug or not - it ended up being a sort of slanted, ½ second long pressing together of our bodies - yea it felt as awkward as it sounds, but we laughed it off and said we'd see each other the next evening. I was excited.

On the ride home Charlie did ask me how my night had been but a simple "good" satisfied him, and I was glad because I was anxious to go through the events of the evening and dissect them piece by piece. I definitely had a crush on Edward Cullen, but there was no way I was letting on about that one.

No, that I would be keeping to myself, but there was no doubt I was looking forward to the next evening!


	4. A Night Out

**Hey everyone, sorry I haven't updated too much! It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me - 19****th**** Birthday, Harry Potter Premiere, Work and my grandfather passed away. So I hope you're not too mad for this huge delay, but hopefully this chapter will make up for it and the updates will start coming a lot faster!! I also made a few changes at the beginning…Enjoy!! **

**Please Read, Review, and Recommend!!**

BPOV:

The next morning came and I was thrilled, I couldn't wait to see Edward again! The more time passed, the more I allowed myself to feel the butterflies that filled my stomach at the mere mention of his name. I started the day by making a breakfast of pancakes and bacon for me and Charlie and then spent the rest of it doing some yard work and finishing Romeo and Juliet. I had just reached the last spine tingling page when the alarm I had set on my phone went off; telling me it was time to get ready for the evening.

I decided to wear simple dark jeans and a dark blue tank top. I paired the outfit with white Old Navy flip flops, simple make up, and a slick pulled back ponytail. I didn't bother with a sweater, because the weather called for heat late into the night.

I was nervous to meet Edward's friends, I mean granted at one time they were my friends too but it was different, we were young then - things change - maybe they would hate me? So, to calm my nerves I rocked out to the best the Beatles had to offer while preparing dinner for Charlie, all the while watching the minutes tick by as I waited for Edward.

EPOV:

Where had the day gone? I had spent uncountable amounts of time thinking about Bella, and everything that happened last night - with Bella, and everything that could happen tonight - with Bella. I couldn't believe it when she had said she would like to come out with me and my friends tonight! If I hadn't been there, I don't think I would've believed it…

I went to bed thinking about the way her hair fell on her shoulders and I woke up thinking about the way she leaned on the side of her foot, out of nerves, when she was talking about herself - she was too adorable. Now, as I tried to get ready so I would be on time I was thinking about the way her skin might feel against mine if we were oh so happen to brush hands or shoulders or something at some point throughout the night….What was I doing???

Alice had arrived somewhere mid day between my thoughts of her hips and her lips and I had told her the whole short story, now she was helping me pick what to wear. She picked out khaki shorts with an orange polo and paired it with my beat up black converse sneakers. It was a quarter to 7 and so I headed to my silver Volvo and went to go pick up, the girl who I might just one day love.

BPOV:

I hear my phone buzz and I check it; it's Edward:

I'm outside 

I say a quick goodbye to Charlie, and shove my phone into my pocket and run outside. Edward's behind the wheel of the small silver Volvo, looking sexy, as, I'm realizing, he always does. I decide, in my head , that I would love to run my fingers through his hair - it's probably really soft…the thought sends shivers down my spine but then I arrived at the car door so I shoved my fantasy to the back of my brain and got in the car.

"Hey" I said as I entered the vehicle and buckled my seat belt; Edward smiled in greeting and responded "Hey There."

He started the car and within seconds we were cruising down the street; I broke the silence first asking "So, how have the last couple of hours gone for you since we parted?"

He laughed at the small gap in time since we had last seen each other the night before.

"Um - pretty good I guess, did a whole lot of nothing really, how about yourself?"

"Pretty much the same, I did finish Romeo and Juliet though."

"Ahh - nice, nice - were you shocked by the completely unsuspected ending?" he was mocking me again.

"Listen Cullen you better stop giving me shit about re-reading that book or else there's going to be some consequences." I smiled coyly, trying to flirt, and probably failing but he smiled back nevertheless and asked, "Oh yeah - and what might they be?"

I laughed and cliché-ly replied "Well, I'd tell you but [I paused for dramatic effect] then I'd have to kill you."

We both just laughed in response to my cheesy line and sat in silence for a few moments before Edward flicked on the radio and asked "So, what type of music do you listen to?"

I thought about it for a moment, "Hmm - well, I don't really have like a favorite band persay I like a lot of different things….but I guess if I had to narrow it down, to like a top 3 I'd say Fall Out Boy, The Killers, and The Beatles. But I mean, I also like some stuff by Green Day, Nickelback, John Mayer-- I actually really like old Frank Sinatra stuff…and yea, I guess have to say, the country girl in me loves her Rascal Flatts…"

Edward laughed at my confession, "It's ok, I actually really like Rascal Flatts too -- and The Killers - and some Green Day, and of course I love The Beatles, who doesn't? I also really like U2 and We the Kings…and a bunch of other stuff but I'm kind of the same way with music, I like a lot of really different things so it's hard to remember it all at once, ya know?"

"Yea - exactly…"

Just then the song "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock came on the radio and we both shouted "I love this song!" to which we then both looked at each other and yelled "jinks!" and then just cracked up at our immaturity…

"I thought I was the only loser in the world who still remembered that!"

"Nope," Edward replied, "Rosalie would shut me up for hours with that one, I'll never forget it." He chuckled to himself.

The song continued in the background of our settled silence:

_Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking 'bout tomorrow_

_Singing 'Sweet Home Alabama' all summer long_

Then I had a random outburst, "You know what I'm dying for?"

Edward laughed at the randomness but replied, "What are you dying for?"

"Lemonade! I'm really just dying for a glass of lemonade," I laughed at myself, "it's so summery and refreshing."

Edward was full out laughing at me, "Well, I'm sorry but I'm all out of lemonade right now."

I laughed a little too, realizing how ridiculous I must have sounded, when a commercial came on the radio for that new movie The Hangover.

"Have you seen that yet?"

Edward's laughter started up again, "Oh yeah - twice! I went opening night - funniest freakin' movie I've seen in years -- have you seen it??"

I smiled to myself, had I seen it?, "Yes - I went opening night as well -- and then two more times after that….it was really good."

"You saw it three times?? You didn't strike me as the comedy loving type of girl."

I turned toward him, "Oh really - what type of girl did I strike you as?"

He tightened his hands on the steering wheel and almost looked uneasy for a second, but then in a flash he was back to normal and joking about his impression of me, "I saw you as more of the stay home at night, reading old love stories a thousand times over."

"Very funny Mr. 'I like The Stranger."

"Oh, don't bring that up again…"

I didn't get the chance to continue the conversation, because we were pulling into the clearing where everyone parked their cars at the beach.

We got out of the car and approached the crowd that was gathered on the beach; there was a fire roaring and my nerves began to bubble up in the pit of my stomach. The nerves quickly faded though, because as we walked the last few steps Edward leaned into me and whispered "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

I almost fell to the ground. My heart was beating like crazy and I felt like my knees were going to cave at any second, but I remained composure to the outside world and nodded to him.

"Hey guys - this is Bella" Edward announced when we finally reached the group. I met various old acquaintances, and a few new ones; Mike Newton, Angela Weber, a girl named Jessica, and a guy named Eric from childhood and then Edward's best friend Jasper who had moved to Forks a few years before Edward had moved back.

They were all really nice and very welcoming, but the small intimacy of the group's friendship was kind of intimidating. After all of the (re)-introductions Edward pulled me over to a bunch of coolers and handed me a bottle, "It's not quite lemonade but it should be close enough to get rid of your craving." He laughed.

I looked at the bottle - it was a Mike's Hard Lemonade. "Hey Edward -"

He walked over to me, "What's up?"

I felt silly asking but I shyly questioned him, "Doesn't this have alcohol in it?"

He looked at me blankly before saying, "Um - yea ."

He looked at me questioningly and then said, "Please don't tell me you've never had a drink before."

"Sorry but I've never had a drink before."

"Well, you can't start you're freshman year of college never having had a drink."

I laughed at his true disappointment that I'd never drank as he continued, "No - no this is something that needs to change." He opened the bottle as he said, "Tonight. Cheers!" He clanked his beer can against my bottle.

I looked at him uncertainly and he just nodded again, so I took a sip - it was good. It was really good. I took another sip. Edward smiled his huge, gorgeous smile and I laughed. He put his arm around me in friendly way and then pulled me close and whispered "Now I have just one simple word of advice - 'Beer before liqueur never been sicker, liqueur before beer you're in the clear - follow that and you'll never have a night go bad." Edward smiled, almost as if he was proud to be passing on the tidbit of information to me.

We walked over to the fire where a few of his friends were roasting marshmallows. He grabbed a stick and stuck two on, "Today's your lucky day. You're going to get to taste one of my famous s'mores."

"Oh really? What's so famous about them?"

"They're the best damn s'mores you'll ever taste."

"I'm going to have to decide that one for myself." Just then, he pulled the fiery marshmallows from the fire and sandwiched them each onto a stacked tower of yummy that consisted of graham crackers and mini Hershey bars, then he sprinkled Reese's pieces on top and finished it off with another graham cracker. I was in awe.

"Taste it."

I took a bite and literally thought I was in heaven, as I was chewing he asked me "So, is it the best S'more you've ever had?" I simply nodded, but he kept going as a joke, "No, no, no - you have to say it. Out loud." He was smiling ear to ear and I started laughing, marshmallow and chocolate definitely still in some of my teeth, and said "That was- the absolute best s'more- I have ever had -in my life."

He was laughing now too, "Thank you."

The sun was almost done setting and most of the group had taken their s'mores over to a hill in order to watch so we headed over to enjoy the view, and what remained of our s'mores.

It was a beautiful blend of pinks, oranges, yellows, reds and purpley blue. It was such a nice moment, but it would have been even nicer if Edward's hand had been entwined in mine or if his arm had been wrapped around me…Just as I was thinking that though I heard my name being squealed from somewhere behind me.

I turned and saw a petite girl with a pixie haircut in light denim capris and a red tank top running toward me. She grabbed me and spun us in a circle as she screamed, "Bella!! It has been too long!!"

Edward came over to us and said, "Bella, in case she forgot to tell you in her sugar high craze, this is Alice."

"Oh! Alice!! Hi! How are you -- Edward told me about Harvard - Congratulations!"

"Oh God - he's already started that shit - I hate when people make a big deal of it, I feel like such a nerd." She laughed.

I laughed too, "You are so not a nerd - I basically wanted to be you when we were younger."

"Thanks for the compliment Bells, but I actually can't hang around too long - I'm here to charm and woo Edward's friend Jasper."

"Jasper? Really."

"Yea - I guess it's sort of silly, but he's a cool guy and I've had my eye on him since day 1…any guys catching your eye yet?"

"There might be one…"

"Well you are going to need to spill about that one real soon -- how about we get together for lunch one day?"

"Definitely - I'm free all week -- Edward has my number, just give me a call."

"Great! Catch ya later Bella!"

And with that she ran off in the direction of the beer pong table where Jasper was whipping Jacob Blacks ass.

The sky was navy blue now and sprinkled with white diamond stars. Edward came back over to me, he had been playing in a game of flip cup but lost and got kicked off his team. "Want another? You've only had one, and at this rate we could hardly call it your first drinking experience." He chuckled.

"Heh" His enthusiasm about me drinking continued to amuse me, "sure, I'll have another I guess."

"A Mike's or do you want to try something else?"

"What have ya got?"

He walked me over to the cooler, "Well I can't have a beer, right?" I questioned him.

"Right." He smiled and shook his head slightly before saying, "Someone remembered the rule I told her."

"I looked straight into his eyes and said, in a low voice, "I'm a fast learner."

I held the gaze for only a ½ second longer and then quickly looked away, trying to mesmerize him or something like the flirting tips in magazines always said to…

I settled on drinking a green apple flavored Smirnoff ice and he had another beer. We were sitting around the fire with his friends and I could tell they were trying to get to know me.

"So, Bella," Mike Newton began, "what do you do for fun back in Phoenix?"

I laughed, "Well Mike, not much - I was never really the party girl so I spent a lot of time with books, I know I'm like loser #1 right?"

They were all laughing at my joke, but then Angela piped up "No - none of us were really partiers in high school - but coming back from our first year of college we decided to start living a bit more on the edge -- most of us spent our Fridays with a book or a movie or if it was a hopping night, the bowling alley."

They were all laughing now, "It's true", Jessica chimed in, "nothing like this ever happened while we were actually in high school - the first time I remember was when a few of us came home for Thanksgiving."

"So what books do you like, Bella?" Jacob asked me.

I hated talking about myself but I guess this is what I had to do in order to break into this crowd, "Umm - I really like the Harry Potter series, umm I've read a few Nicholas Sparks books - like the Notebook and those…uhh classics - Jane Austen, Orson Wells, I like a lot of different stuff - Shakespeare."

"She loves Romeo and Juliet", Edward piped in.

I nudged him in the rib and he smiled.

Both Angela and Jessica's ears perked up at that though and they both said some variation of, "Oh my gosh - that's one of my favorites!" and at that I stuck my tongue out at Edward in jest.

We began discussing different books, ranging from the vampire series everyone was going nuts for to Frankenstein to The Picture of Dorian Gray. As the conversation stalled on Dorian Gray, Alice and Jasper emerged from the nearby bushes arm in arm laughing and giggling. Everyone was laughing at them but they were actiung as if it was no big thing, so it faded and Alice launched right into the conversation, "Did I hear you guys mention Dorian Gray? Did you know they're making it into a movie??"

"Really?" Angela inquired, "That's pretty cool."

"Yea," Alice replied, "I thought so."

And then the conversation fell silent for a bit, with people taking sips of their drinks or nuzzling whoever they had paired off with in their drunken stupor.

Apparently Eric had caught a second wind though because suddenly he got up and announced he wanted someone to compete against him in extreme beer pong. A few people followed him, including Alice and Jasper leaving the few of us who remained in a serene silence that allowed us to hear the crickets and the grass hoppers. One of the guys had called Edward over to him so I took up looking at the stars, trying to decipher the different constellations. But then I heard a light tinkling noise, I looked down and it was Edward's phone - he must've dropped it. I didn't open the txt he had just received but I did take the liberty of changing his wall paper! When he came back over I just handed it to him and said "I think you dropped this." And he shoved it into his pocket.

He stooped down to me and whispered, "If you really want to see stars, follow me" and then he took my hand and dragged me back to the hill where we had all watched the sun set - and he was right - the view of the stars was 1000x better. I felt like I could see a completely different universe.

"You know it's funny, sometimes I still do that thing from when we were kids." He looked at me questioningly.

"You know - star light, star bright, first star I see tonight --"

"Have the wish I wish tonight." He finished the children's rhyme for me.

We were both smiling. "What did you wish for tonight?" He asked me.

"If I tell you it won't come true." I told him simply in a quiet voice.

"You would've loved the view of the stars from Turks - it was literally breath taking…"

"It sounds beautiful - whenever you go back, I'd love to go -- see everything you talk about."

"I'd love to take you -- you would love it." He nodded for emphasis - I love how he'd get all serious when he was talking about things he was passionate about.

"Yea" I smiled and nodded too.

We walked back down the hill and back to the group where everyone had assembled in a circle for a game of truth or dare.

They settled in too and began to play, Jacob Black was up.

"Jessica, truth or dare, did you give head to Seth Clearwater while we were still in high school?"

Jessica turned such a deep red, it was visible in the sparse lighting we had but after a minute she said "I'll take the dare."

"Well then Jessica start stripping, I dare you to go skinny dipping."

"Done." And off she went, dropping clothes as she ran.

"Ok - Edward, why don't you go next," Jacob suggested.

"Hmm who should I torture," Edward played.

"Bella. "

I froze in my seat.

"Truth or Dare, What's the farthest you've gone with a guy?"

I was shaking from nerves. I didn't want to answer the question, but I was afraid what the dare might be. I decided anything would be better then Edward I've never even gotten up to bat…

"Dare."

The crowd made the typical noises of thinking I was gutsy, lots of "o0o0's" and the like.

"Ok," Edward looked very serious, but then he cracked a smile as he said, "I dare you to tell a joke."

Everyone just looked at him as if he'd lost his mind - what kind of dare was that? 'tell a joke'? What were we in third grade?? But despite all that I was immensely grateful, so I smiled as I thought of one and set about my task:

Ok so there was once this guy who dreamed of being a great writer. When people asked him what he meant by a great writer he would say that he wanted to write stuff that the whole world would read, and that people would react to on a very emotional level, causing them to scream, cry and howl in pain and anger --- What did the guy end up writing?

Everyone was kind of just staring at me, I guess I wasn't any sort of comedian, but Edward decided to take a whack at it, "Well if you wrote the joke probably the author of The Stranger…" he laughed.

"Very funny Edward, anyone else want to try?"

More silence. So I decided to tell them, "He writes error messages for Microsoft."

I got a few chuckles from Edward, Alice, and a few other people but overall my joke was kind of a dud and I knew it.

Edward was the first to speak, "Nice shot anyway Bells," he was smiling, "Why don't you pick someone now…"

Now I was smiling, "Ok Edward. I pick you. Truth or dare, What's the farthest you've gone?"

Edward chuckled and smiled, "I'll take the dare."

I smiled back at him, "I dare you to invite me to hang out with your friends again."

Everyone was laughing, it was actually Jasper who piped up "We get pizza and play manhunt every Thursday night -- you should join us!!"

Edward was shaking his head in amusement as he said, "Yeah - that would actually be really cool - we're in odd numbers right now anyway…"

"I'd love to! Thanks Jasper."

Jessica was just coming back from her swim when the game broke up in accommodation of everyone's want to drink a little more before the night ended and the couples want to go find a bush to play behind.

Edward and I decided to enjoy some Cherry soda on account that he'd be driving soon and I didn't want him to be sobering alone.

We walked down the water's edge while everyone else continued their drunken activities, talking about everything from favorite authors to what might have happened had our families not moved away from Forks.

We were both agreeing on how we think it's better we were apart for awhile when I got a full view of the full moon. It was beautiful. We both paused to look at it.

"Do you ever think about the man in the moon?" I asked him.

"What?"

"You know - the man in the moon, the face the craters make - when we were young all the older kids told us it was the face of a man who lived in the moon."

"No, I know what you're talking about - but what made you think about it?"

"Oh - I don't know - a lot of times when I'm with you - I just remember things from when we were kids…it's funny."

"That happens to me too…like just little things."

"Yea."

We were approaching the group again when I felt the first drop, then he felt one, soon it was a down pour!

We ran under a tree just to wait out the worst of it before heading home. Thunder was roaring and there was a ton of lightening, it was actual beautiful - some it was actually pink from the prior heat.

After a few minutes we ran back to his car.

Once inside he kept asking me "Are you ok?" to be sure.

The car was freezing cold with the air blowing, but was to stiff without it, so he gave me his grey, hooded, Washington sweatshirt. It was soo comfy, and it smelt just like him!

We were quiet for the first few minutes of the ride but then I tried to start a conversation, "Have you ever noticed how when it rains it brings out the smell of the grass and the flowers blooming?"

"I thought I was the only one who noticed things like that." He chuckled.

I smiled, "It's almost magical, isn't it?"

"Yea -- it is."

We were pulling up to my house just then, "Well Edward I had a really great time! Thanks so much for inviting me!"

"Please, it was my pleasure - I'm glad you had fun!!"

We both leaned in, this time not hesitating for the hug, and I definitely lingered there to see if he'd take it further, but he didn't, so I started to get out of the car.

"I'll call you tomorrow maybe."

"Ok - night Edward!"

"Night Bella!"

And with that he drove off, and I headed inside. It had been an absolutely perfect night. I wore the sweatshirt to bed and had dreams of the two of us together all night long.

**Well I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!! The story's really picking up now so the juicy stuff will be headed your way real soon!!!**

**Please Review and Recommend!!! ******** Thanks!!**


	5. Summer Days

**Sorry for the HUGE delay in posting everyone! It has been a very hectic summer for me and it has left me literally no time to write but I really wanted to get this chapter up. Also, now that life's sort of winding down, back to normal I should be able to post more often….**

**And on a side note: I'm in search of a Beta so if you're interested please let me know!**

**Hope you enjoy! Please Read, Review & Recommend!!!! **

E POV

I got home only a few moments after dropping Bella off at her house and in that short time I had to have relived the evening literally 100 times. I really was having a good time with Bella, and even though I felt like a total girl I wanted to tell her at the very second. So, I took out my cell and opened it to send her a txt but upon opening said cell phone I didn't find my Funny People release date count down wall paper but found a picture of Bella, holding her Mike's, giving a thumbs up sign with the banner reading:

I had fun tonight! - B.

I immediately went to text her, grinning like a maniac at her wallpaper switch - not to mention at the fact it was probably the sexiest wallpaper my phone's ever had…

I wrote to her saying: Saw the pic. - Glad you had fun! I did too = ) See you soon.

After that I drifted off to dreamland where I hoped to see Bella and very little else….

B POV

The sun was rising and the sky was pinky orange with slight remnants of the grayish purple of dawn. We were surrounded by sand and ocean, as well as the mighty pine trees that towered over most of the Forks area. I was admiring the gorgeous painting in the sky when Edward grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him. I didn't know what was going on but I went with it anyway, hoping it was going the way I wanted it too. He turned to face me and as we stared into each other's eyes there was a spark that could've been felt half way around the world that ignited between us. One second passed and our lips were coming together, touching - soft - blissful. Next thing I knew we were moving. He was carrying me closer to the trees, our lips never parting.

I woke up around 9 in a sweat. I had wanted to dream of Edward, and boy did I dream of Edward. That was the first time I had ever had a dream like that and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I kind of felt a little dirty, but at the same time I wanted to relive every second of it - almost as much as I wanted to keep reliving the prior evening, which I couldn't believe had been real life and not a dream. I decided to take a shower, but hadn't gotten as far as getting out of bed when I saw the little orange flashing light on my phone telling me I had a new message.

I pounced to it, praying it was from Edward - hoping he wasn't mad I had changed his phone background!

Whew! No anger just excitement: Saw the pic. - Glad you had fun! I did too = ) See you soon.

Yes. I would be seeing him soon, wouldn't I! It was Monday and I would be seeing him on Thursday for manhunt with his friends!! Hmm - that sounded too far away though… I began to analyze the txt, being the girl I am, while still sitting in bed, wearing his sweatshirt from the night before.

The smiley face was placed in a strange spot, I thought to myself, did he type it because he was glad I had fun or because he was going to see me soon - and if he was happy to be seeing me soon, how soon did he really want to see me?

I let me mind wander over these questions as I showered and got dressed for my day. As I ate my breakfast of strawberry yogurt and vanilla granola I decided to text him back saying:

Yea - I'm excited! I'm a beast at manhunt lol - What day did you say you all play again?

Now of course I was no beast at man hunt - I was a total klutz! But I read somewhere that guys liked when girls bragged about their sports abilities….who knows like I keep saying, I'm new to this whole flirting thing…I also, of course, knew what day manhunt was scheduled for, but I figured it was a good opportunity to start a conversation and for him to suggest hanging before then possibly…

As I began to do the week's laundry my mind was full of ideas, hopes and wishes that I prayed would come true before summer's end.

E POV

I was surprised when I got a text back from Bella during my morning workout; I had been hoping for one, but not expecting one.

Yea - I'm excited! I'm a beast at manhunt lol - What day did you say you all play again?

She was a beast at manhunt? Well - we would just have to see about that…

We didn't play till Thursday but I didn't want to go that long without seeing her - things were just starting to feel comfortable, like old times --- well like old times but way better.

So instead of just telling her that I decided to try and keep the conversation going, I mean that's what _friends_ would do right?

Well, I'll just have to be the judge of your manhunt skills…we meet on Thursday but if you're up for a little pre-game (I hope she didn't think I meant drinking - I didn't really care if she drank or not…) maybe we could hang before then(I prayed she'd say yes!)…o and I was wondering - how's the aftermath from your, er, 'lemonade'? lol (I couldn't help myself lol)

I thought that would do the trick. I finished my set and then headed up to my room for a shower, I was supposed to be watching the Mariners game with Jasper a little later and I didn't think he'd appreciate me stinking like ass….

B POV

I was in the middle of cleaning the bathroom mirrors when I got a text back from Edward - probably the longest text he'd ever sent me…he had suggested meeting up before Thursday - I took this as a good sign! - and had asked me how I was feeling after my first drinking experience - that was really thoughtful!

I finished up the mirrors before sitting down on the sink counter to text him back:

I'm babysitting from 9 - 12:30 all week, but my afternoons are free…What did you have in mind? As for my after math - not bad, slight headache but aspirin solved that over an hour ago :)

Not even a minute later my phone buzzed - another text from him - I almost dropped my phone in the toilet because of how shocked I was at his speed to respond

Glad your feeling better! How about lunch tomorrow?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! He wants to see me tomorrow!!! I knew I was kind of new to this whole thing but I definitely took that as a good sign! I texted him back immediately saying that that would be great and that we could work out the details later.

I felt like I needed to share my joy with the world - so I headed to my laptop and changed my facebook status to a lyric from one of my favorite Beatles songs:

_Here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo =)_

And then sent an e-mail to my mom spilling everything to her! Hey a girl always needs gossip time with her mommy, no matter how many miles away she lives… and so I told her of his charm, his wit, his intelligence - completely updated her on the whole family's whereabouts (she always liked the Cullens), went into length on the past events, definitely censoring my dream, and of course a description of his looks which I hoped I could soon supplement with a picture.

After sending the e-mail I began to think about what my expectations for this summer had been and how different it was turning out to be….

Maybe summer in Forks wouldn't be so dull after all?

E POV

Hours had passed since Bella's text had arrived agreeing to go to lunch with me tomorrow, at the time butterflies had shot through my stomach like I was in high school about to go on my first date - but I wasn't in high school and it wasn't even a date as far as I could tell -- Just too old friends going to lunch and getting reacquainted with one another…

Now as I sat here with Jasper, Alice and my dad watching the Mariners game I felt restless and really just wanted to talk to her some more - she was funny in a way that she didn't mean to be but that made her even more adorable. The funny thing was she had no idea what I thought of her when I thought my heart was clearly visible hanging right on my sleeve, a place it did not usually reside.

I was barely paying attention to the game and I was tapping my foot on the floor like a mad men in an attempt to distract myself from thinking about her - this had been going on for about twenty minutes, with various grunts of annoyance from Jasper before he screamed "Oh my God! Just text her already - it's not a big deal!"

It took me by surprise, and if it hadn't been for Alice and my dad sitting in the room I probably would've been grateful for the slap in the face that I had desperately needed but they were there and their faces were filled with questions so in that moment I felt like strangling Jasper…

"Who is it you want to text so eagerly Edward? Do I know her?" Alice was already prying.

"Well - no - you don't really know her…it's not a big deal…"

As I trailed off the Mariners scored a home run, pulling my dad's attention back to the game 100%, Alice also had briefly forgotten my love life existed - and I took the opportunity to text Bella saying:

I thought of a place I think you'll like for tomorrow - I'll pick you up…it's kind of hard to get to, just send me the address when you can =)

Unfortunately the game went to commercial just as I had hit send, and Alice's attention was directly back on me, she took me by surprise and lunged at me, grabbing my phone in the process! It kind of went by in slow motion, one moment I'm laughing with Jasper at some beer commercial and then the next thing I know there's this tiny little person flying at me and then all I could see was jet black fuzz, which ended up being Alice's hair (post lunge) before hearing "Oh my God! You were texting BELLA!!!"

Shit.

"Aww - Eddie -- do you like her? [silence and death stare from me] Oh my God - that is too precious! Don't worry Edward I won't see a word when we hang out this week!"

"Alice. I swear, one mere hushed whisper, even as a joke, and I will KILL YOU!" I was getting louder and angrier as I spoke, I had no idea my feelings had gotten to be this strong.

"Ok - ok…no need to go all Jekyll and Hyde on me…" after that Alice pretty much kept quiet for the remainder of the game, except for little sides to Jasper who, though she gotten involved with, hadn't gotten true commitment from yet, and she was a determined little pixie. I saw her texting at one point during the 7th inning and it worried me a little bit but Alice wasn't usually a sneak like that so I let it pass.

I had wandered up to bed and was about to pass out when I heard a light buzz from my jean pocket on the floor where I had left my phone, I stumbled to get it and I was so glad when I had - it was a text from Bella saying: That sounds great! I'll let you know the def. pick up location tomorrow! =)

I was pumped! And with that I headed to bed looking forward to the morning.

B POV

I was a little startled when I received Edward's message about wanting to pick me up - I had been napping when he sent it and the buzz sent a jolt through my body…I didn't even look to see who it was from and just hit ignore, because I was in such a deep trance from sleeping. Geeky as it was I was napping so I could stay up late and watch a Harry Potter movie marathon on TV, in honor of the 6th movie coming out…

When I did finally wake up I showered and had a late dinner. I was enjoying a forkful of mac n' cheese when my phone buzzed again, it was from Alice!

If I can pry you away from your new best friend, aka my brother, do you think we can still hang this week?

I laughed out loud in a silly nervous way - people were noticing how much time Edward and I had been spending together…I wondered if that was something I needed to worry about, I decided it wasn't and let it pass texting her back:

LOL - right….well tomorrow me and him are going to lunch but how about Wednesday?

I finish babysitting 12:30, and can be by your house by 1?

I was washing the dishes when her reply came in: Sounds great! See you then!

After washing the dishes I began popping mega amounts of popcorn. Turns out my dad had remained friends with Jacob Black's dad Billy over the years and so they were coming up to watch the marathon too, since they had no TV down by the reservation they lived on and Jacob was a fan.

I was on bag three of the four pack box of butterlicous my dad had bought when I heard my phone buzzing faintly on the table. It was a text from my mom telling me to check my e-mail ASAP after reading it a message flashed saying my inbox was full and that I had to delete some messages, I opened my messages and that's when I saw the text from Edward from earlier. I felt bad for not having replied right away so I text him back right then saying that him picking me up would be great!

After that the four of us settled in on the couches in the living room and began watching Sorcerer's Stone…it was going to be a long night!

Earlier the next morning had been uneventful. Bella awoke totally groggy from her late night with Harry Potter, and Edward had slept till 10 before getting up to shower and change and prepare for his lunch with Bella.

It was about 12:20 when Edward headed over to the park where Bella had said to pick her up, so he was surprised, when he arrived at 13:35, to see a little girl in a pink dress and pigtails running around the playground with Bella tailing her every move.

He sat for a minute looking at the sight before getting out of his car, revealing himself, just watching her. Bella looked so alive and beautiful laughing and running around.

He got out of the car, and since Bella's back was to him he ran up to her and grabbed her, totally startling her.

Bella screamed and then turned to him saying "what the hell was that all about, you scared the living crap out of me!"

"Well you just looked like you were having so much fun and I wanted to join in." Edward replied sweetly.

Bella couldn't help but smile, "Edward, meet Emma."

"Hi Emma, it's very nice to meet you."

"Is nice to meet you too...," whispered Emma softly in her sweet little girl voice.

Bella filled in the reason she was still here saying, "her mom was running late, but she should be here any minute -- sorry for the hold up." She looked at him apologetically.

"Oh - please - it's not a big deal." Just then he noticed Emma picking the petals off a flower, murmuring to herself, "Emma, what are you doing?"

"He loves me he loves me not." The little girl said matter o factly without even looking up.

Edward was laughing a little bit, "Where did you learn how to do that?"

Panic struck Bella's face.

"From Bella." Said the girl in a tone that was basically saying "duh - who else would I learn it from"…

"Ohhh" is all Edward said to her in reply before turning to Bella, "You taught a 4 year old he loves me he loves me not?"

"Well -- not exactly…"

"I don't understand -- what do you mean?"

"She kind of just saw me doing it and then started doing it herself, I don't even think she knows what she's really doing…"

"She saw you doing it?" Edward teased, "Sweet on someone are you?"

Bella laughed, more out of nervousness then humor, before saying "Hah - no…I was just bored."

She had no idea how or why but he seemed to believe her, either that or he had just gotten bored of the conversation and dropped it; and she was grateful in either case!

Emma had started climbing to the top of the jungle gym and so Bella headed up to, Edward was standing nearby watching when Emma asked to do the monkey bars and needed help reaching them.

Bella was in the middle of explain she wasn't strong enough to lift her when Edward realized what was going on and said he'd help her.

Bella was slightly taken aback, "thanks Edward - but you don't have to…"

"I want to."

And with that Edward hoisted the little girl into the air and helped her swing from bar to bar saying the stupid sweet things adults always tend to say to kids, like "Wow - you look like you're a super hero" and "Oh my gosh! You are so cool - I wish I could this!" all the while Bella was just watching, butterflies thrashing around her stomach as if it were an exhibit at a zoo…

Just then a a frazzled looking woman in her early thirties approached them spilling apologies for being late, thanking Bella and calling Emma all at once.

"It wasn't a problem, come on Emma mommies here….Oh - this is my friend Edward - sorry - he was picking me up for lunch and when you were late he helped me with Emma for a little while."

"Oh well - thank you too then Edward," and with that the frazzled mother and her daughter wandered back to their car, leaving Edward and Bella alone.

"So, where are we off to?" questioned Bella.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out."

Minutes later they were cruising down the highway, radio blasting both just admiring the view of the coastline they were flying along past.

Just as Bella was wondering, yet again, where he was taking her, Edward broke the silence, "Did you hear Billy Mayes died?"

"Oh my God yes - isn't it horrible! First Farah, then Michael and now Billy Mayes! I used to love his infomercials…."

"Me too! Which was your favorite?"

"I think classic Oxy clean - how about you?"

"Hmmm - probably the Mighty Mendit….that shit'll hold anything together…"

"I saw that one last night!"

"Really? What were you doing up that late little Missy?"

"Hah - I was being very bad" Bella played

Edward's eyebrow shot up, "Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah," Bella went with a little longer, "I was at it for hours…"

"Really?" Edward's eyes were wide with horror and shock

"Well what would you expect - there were five of them!"

"What?" Edward looked like he might've burst into tears at any moment so Bella put the joke to an end.

"I was watching a Harry Potter marathon……what did _you_ think I was talking about?" Bella laughed to herself.

Edward felt like an idiot. He just shook his head and muttered, "Nothing…nothing…" as Bella continued to chuckle over what had just happened.

Trying to move past it Edward asked her, "So you like Harry Potter?"

"That's the understatement of the century."

Edward laughed, "Big fan?"

"Yea - huge -- I keep telling you I'm a nerd…"

"Hey - don't call Harry Potter fans nerdy…I happen to be one myself..."

"Oh really? Movies or Books?"

"Books of course -- people who say their fans but have only seen the movies really annoy me…I mean half the plot line doesn't even usually make it into the movies…"

"Oh my gosh! I know exactly what you mean - that's one of my biggest pet peeves!"

She sat thinking to herself for a moment about where she could take this conversation, before asking, "So which house would you be in?"

"That's such a hard question!! I mean duh of course - everyone always seems to want Gryffindor and I'm no different but I don't know if I would be sorted into Gryffindor -- I mean what constitutes bravery anyway? So I always seem to go back in forth between Ravenclaw and Slytherin - of course favoring Ravenclaw…What about you?"

"Well, I always imagined myself being best friends with Hermione Granger and bunking together in Gryffindor….but I do agree with your point…I don't know now…."

"Like I said - hard question…"

Just as the last chords of _Good Night_ by the Black Eyed Peas were racing off the radio they pulled into a small gravel lot on the water.

Edward put the car in park, turned off the engine, and then led the way.

Bella had no idea where they were, so she asked Edward, "Where are we going to be eating?"

Edward smirked and simply said "just follow me."

So she did. Down a long dock to a small yacht at the end.

It was massive. White and shining, with chrome trim and baby blue leather all over the inside. The name was freshly painted on the side, gleaming in the sun, _The Esme_.

"Edward - what is this?"

"Carlisle's boat - he said I could use it for the day…"

"I didn't know Carlisle had a boat!"

"He got it while we were in Turks, so he could easily get from one island to the next without having to deal with bridges and traffic…"

"It's beautiful."

"Thanks - I'm certainly a fan of it….Come aboard!"

As Bella climbed up the small ladder on the side onto the deck she asked Edward, "So is this where we're eating?"

Edward once again smiled to himself, this time saying, quite cryptically, "No - you're just going to have to wait a little longer."

On that note they were off, sailing the high sea. It was almost impossible to hear each other speak over the whipping winds so they settled for just enjoying the view.

About ten minutes into the journey Bella spotted a small island up ahead, as time passed she realized they were heading for the dock on its beach.

Edward began the docking procedures as Bella stumbled off and took a look around at the gorgeous sands, the sprouting wild flowers and majesty of the ocean and its waves wiping on and off of the sands canvas.

Soon after, Edward joined her and set up a small black and white checkered blanket on the ground, holding the corners down with rocks to protect it from the wind, as well as a small basket he had been carrying since they left the car.

"Edward, are we having a picnic?"

"Yes Bella, we are having a picnic. I knew you'd appreciate the beauty of this place so I figured what more of a perfect spot could there be to eat lunch on a Tuesday with a new friend…"

"It is beautiful -- I don't know if I've ever seen anything better, to be honest."

"I like to come here because it reminds me of Turks -- a little different but only slightly…"

"So what's for lunch?"

"Well we've got spiced turkey with herb mayo or virginia ham with gouda cheese…"

"Fancy…"

"Esme packed them…"

"Aw! That was so nice of her!"

"Yea -- I packed the rest though…"

"Oh yea - what's the rest?"

"We've got fresh berries and real lemonade. I figured you would be craving some…"

Bella laughed before saying, "It all sounds great! I'll take a turkey sandwich with all of the above!"

As they ate they talked, getting to know each other on every facet imaginable. From the death of Bella's plant cactus to Edward's obsession with the release of the Beatles version of Rock Band.

As the lemonade began to run low and the sun began to set Edward suggested getting in the boat and sailing home, saying Jasper could pick up his car for him later.

Bella didn't object, they boarded the boat and the next thing she knew they were getting the sea view tour of Washington.

At one point they were just coasting so Edward came back and sat by Bella. The wind had died down so he suggested a card game.

They debated back and forth on what game to play, with the final, mature pick being Go Fish.

"Any 2s?" Bella asked Edward

"Err - you always get me --- any 5s?"

"Go Fish. Any 6s?"

"You got me again…."

This went on for about an hour; Bella won 5 out of 6 rounds, the 6th one being the one that she let Edward cheat…

Soon enough though the sky was a hazy gray and they were approaching the small boat house that resides outside of Forks where people can dock their fishing boats.

After walking a few feet down the path that leads to the street Bella admitted, "I had a really great time today Edward."

Edward smiled, a sweet smile now, "I had a really great time too."

They were standing pretty close together, surely about to kiss, when up pulled Jasper in Edward's Volvo, honking the horn like a madman.

The day had been perfect. And now on the ride home both quietly reflected on the moment that could have made it bliss.

**So, what did you think??? Let me know with a REVIEW!!!!! The next chapter's all about the Alice - Bella bonding but I'll through in an Edward teaser if I get at least 5 reviews! **


	6. Playing, Plotting and Planning

**Hey all thanks to everyone who's reading - it means so much to me!! I didn't get 5 reviews but I did get ONE - thank you!!!! So I decided to throw in a little glimpse of Edward anyway =)**

**Disclaimer: **Would I be writing this if I actually owned any of these characters, etc.???

The next morning flew by in a whirl wind of laundry, text messages, and chores; before she knew it Bella was throwing on her favorite pair of jeans and a hoodie, braving the shocking cold front that had moved into the area over night.

She pulled up to the Cullen household to find Alice waiting for her outside. She was definitely dressed for the weather, wearing a heavy jacket, scarf and boots, but somehow it looked almost trendy on her. Bella got out of the car and Alice ran to her, arms wide open, screaming "Bella! It is so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too! Any reason you're standing outside?"

"Oh - well I thought maybe we'd go out for lunch - is that ok with you? I know this great spot - it's a little outside of Forks but it's not too far from here…"Alice rambled on until Bella stopped her by grabbing her arms and saying, "Alice. It's cool - I love trying new places, let's go."

About 15 minutes later, Alice's yellow Porsche (a gift for making Harvard) was pulling up to what looked like a tiny wooden cottage. Along the way the two had discussed common pleasantries, what they had been up to and the like. But now as they sat in the adorable café, painted with light blues and purples, glitter and flowers abound, Bella felt as if she had stepped into a magical forest and couldn't help but fall to Alice's every request, almost as if she had been placed under a spell. Maybe it was the atmosphere or perhaps it was the toasted, rosemary baguette her smoked turkey, bacon and Gouda sandwich had been served on but she found herself surrendering the most intimate details of her life. Including her crush on Edward.

"I don't know Alice - it's just like - when he's around the whole world becomes yellow and stardust and butterflies. I feel all weird and gooey and want to just - I don't even know - shout about how good the world is? Wrap his arms around me and twirl around and 'round till we spin into another dimension? All of the above and more? It's a feeling I can't even describe in words…..He brings out this piece of me that I didn't even know existed - it's funny and clever and coy and courageous and outgoing and --- I like who I am when I'm with him…I feel ridiculous - is this ridiculous?"

"Wow."

"Alice, I just poured my soul out into you and all you can say is 'wow'???"

"Sorry it's just - remember he is my brother -- I never thought I'd hear someone describe him like that…it's kind of unbelievable… "

Alice paused for a second, collecting herself and trying to separate brother from friend's potential boyfriend, all the while trying to keep her knowledge of Edward's feelings beneath the surface.

Then she continued, "It's so not ridiculous - you're totally adorable actually….So what's your plan?"

"What plan?" a confused Bella replied.

"Well, you can't just sit back and hope for the best - you have to be at least a little proactive…"

"Proactive? How??"

"Hah - for that - you have definitely come to the right place…let's finish lunch - you can tell me all about you day with prince charming yesterday and then we'll go back to the house and I'll give you some pointers!"

They finished lunch, hashing through all the details of the day prior (Alice's eyes were hot with anger when she mentioned Jasper's moment ruining stunt), analyzing the hell out of every word, movement and gesture that boy had embodied. There was no traffic so Alice was racing down the roads, making their trip home 10 minutes shorter than the trip there.

As they entered, they surveyed the driveway trying to decipher who was and wasn't home and greeted Esme, whom turned out to be home alone. After saying hello and quickly tasting the concoction she was brewing for dinner they ran upstairs to discuss how Bella was to go about wooing Edward.

They entered Alice's room, a world of electric teal blues, grassy greens and magical purples. It was so chicly decorated that Bella thought she might have been transported to a furniture store display.

Bella settled onto the bed, atop Alice's white crunched satin comforter, and snuggled with the black, plush, throw blanket that was beside her.

"Ok," stated Alice, "now what shall we do about plan get Edward?"

"I didn't even know I needed a plan so you are definitely the driver on this one."

Alice paced back and forth across her white shag rug for a moment, furrowing her brow in thought. She emerged from her reverie a new woman, full of hope and ideas for how to approach the situation.

"Ok - well you already have the new best friend thing going for you -- I don't think a day has gone by where I haven't heard 'Bella this' and 'Bella that' so the ball is definitely in our court!"

"Edward talks about me?"

"Oh yeah -- all the time-- you're like his new hobby or something…"

"Wow…"

"Yeah - it's great for us, because some much flirting can happen in a really nonchalant manner now…"

"Oh." Bella said simply, utterly confused by the whole messy game of flirting.

Alice was in full commander mode now, "Ok. Some basics to get you started: Any contact is good contact. Whether it's a gentle push or a small klutzy mistake or a jokey type nudge or something - it is all good! If skin meets skin that is brownie points for you… and it could be for nothing too like just occasionally touch his shoulder or arm or something."

"But why would I just randomly touch him? That just sounds creepy…"

Alice laughed at Bella's naiveté, "Well it's not just random - you do it to emphasize a point or when you think something's funny and your laughing or something like that…"

"Oh…ok." Bella just nodded along, sure it would feel natural when the time came, or at least she hoped.

Just then there was a knock at the door, Alice said come in and in came the most beautiful girl Bella had ever seen in her life. She was supermodel tall, blonde and had that porcelain clear skin that Bella had always been two shades to pale of; she wore a slimming black sundress and a black and white checkered scarf that matched the cutest pair of heels she'd ever seen.

Alice jumped up at the sight and ran to the girl, "Rosalie! I didn't know you were coming!!"

"Well Emmett and I wanted to surprise everyone…"

"I'm so excited -- oh, Rosalie you remember Bella Swan, right?"

"Bella! Oh my gosh - it has been too long! You're a young lady now…the last time I saw you, you were well almost like a boy -- covered in mud and running around in overalls." The three girls laughed at Rosalie's description.

"It's good to see you too Rosalie! I hear you're living in New York - that must be so cool!?!?"

"Yea. I love it -- it's literally the most amazing place I think I've ever experienced…"

"Maybe you can help us Rose -- Bella here has a new crush and we're developing a plan of action for her to get him!"

"Oh - I used to love this type of stuff --- what's his name?"

Bella and Alice just looked at each other for a few seconds, trying to communicate whether to tell her or not telepathically, Bella turning a deep red as seconds ticked by; Bella broke the communication, finally turning to Rosalie and quietly, almost in a whisper, told Rosalie, "Edward….It's Edward…..I have a crush on Edward."

Bella just kept saying it in newly arranged phrases, slowly, stammering, like word vomit it just kept coming and she couldn't stop, but Alice came to her rescue, "Bella. She gets it. You can stop now."

Rosalie was sitting in amusement and shock, "So Bella likes Edward. Our Edward? My annoying little brother - who used to be her best friend - Edward?"

Alice and Bella both responded, in unison, "Yes. That Edward."

Rosalie was slightly stunned, "Wow. That's really cute actually. Kind of like me and Em…" Rosalie smiled a small smile to herself at the mention of her boyfriend.

Alice thought the analogy was just 'too - cute' and let out a little "awww" before asking, "Is Emmett here too?? Or is he coming later??"

Rosalie smiled at Alice's enthusiasm for the love of her life, happy her family and he got along, "He went to visit his family but he'll be back here for dinner - will you be joining us Bella? Emmett will get a kick out of how much you've grown…"

"Yea - I'm definitely staying -- I thought he was a giant when we were young - I can't wait to see how much _he's_ grown!"

Rosalie laughed a little before saying "ok - so what about this plan…where are we -- what are we calling it??"

Alice piped up, back in charge, "Well I think Plan Get Edward is sufficient as a title - hopefully this won't be a long term project….and we really haven't done much planning - just basic flirting knowledge - Bella said she knew nothing so I thought it would be good to go over…"

"Good call" agreed Rosalie as she nodded - "Ok -- we should plan some sort of event for them to rendezvous at -- a neutral setting, one that doesn't directly involve either of them…"

"Right - exactly" agreed Alice.

"But what??" pondered Rosalie aloud, both totally forgetting Bella was present.

"I've got it!" exclaimed Alice "A party - for you and Emmett! A lot of your old friends, just a few of mine and Edward's…like maybe one or two each - if that…and we'll do like cocktail style so mingling is mandatory."

"That's perfect! And the whole guest list aspect is great - because there won't be really any girls fighting for Edward's attention - Bella can have him all to herself for the most part…"

"It's genius" Alice commented on their handy work.

"Sounds like fun."Bella piped up for the first time in what seemed to be a millennium…

Rosalie went right back to logistics though, "When should we plan it for -- Em and I will be around for the whole summer…."

"It has to be soon" Alice decided.

"Well Edward and I are playing manhunt tomorrow with his friends, so that's out of the question I think…" input Bella.

"Ok - Friday will be the party -- but your hanging out with him tomorrow?!?!?" Alice exclaimed

"Yea - he invited me to manhunt the other night at the beach…."

"So, you'll have seen him practically every day this week --- and the one day you two were texting like crazy so I mean that would make today the only day you two haven't had contact…"Alice pointed out, probably for Rosalie's benefit, in a very serious tone.

"Well, actually, we were texting all morning, so I guess I've spoken to him every day this week." Bella smiled at this realization.

Rosalie looked surprised, "Bella - that's great --- a really good sign. Maybe you don't need as much help as you thought…"

"I hope it's a good sign…"

Alice was back to the plan though, "So what's the dress code for this party?"

Rosalie smiled coyly, "I want this to be a chance to impress for Bella -- definitely semi-formal…" Bella looked petrified, "what's wrong Bella?"

"I - I don't do dressy -- I'm horrible at it…"

Alice looked really excited, "I love a good makeover! I'll help you get ready!!!"

Bella looked grateful - she didn't care if Alice made her feel like a Barbie doll, as long as she didn't make a fool out of herself, "Thanks Alice that'll be great."

Just then the door flew open, "Hey Alice - do you have any shampoo - the shopping for the week hasn't been done yet and dad and I ran out in our bathroom" It had been Edward behind the door. He was definitely headed for a shower and definitely thought no one else was home for Edward had walked in with nothing but a towel on, and adding to that, he had rushed through his entire request not even bothering to see who might be in the room. When he finished to stunned silence, however, he did glance around and turned bright red as he did so, "Oh - hi - I didn't know other people were here….hey Bella. Hey Rose - when'd you get in…"

"Not too long ago Captain Towel" Rose mused.

"Well - um - I'm gonna go now." And Edward headed out of the room.

"Shampoo's in the second closet on the right!" Alice screamed down the hall, before the three of them burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh my god! That was absolutely hysterical" laughed Alice.

"Yea - he went all teenage boy awkward on us - I honestly thought he was going to die, like right there - on the spot," spoke Rosalie.

Bella was silent, smiling and slightly warm and pink in her neck and cheeks, Alice and Rosalie stared at her in awe until Alice exclaimed, "Ohmygod! Bella liked the show…." Causing a whole new fit of giggles to erupt from Alice and Rosalie; Bella was at first horrified - remembering he was their brother, but when she realized they didn't actually care she joined in on the laughter too.

Rosalie was smiling widely, "Well with that type of reaction maybe Bella can't wait till manhunt tomorrow…"

Alice had a questioning look dancing across her face, "What are you thinking Rose?"

"Well - perhaps a movie - with the family….and his best friend…and our guest Bella."

"The six of us?" Bella questioned.

Alice spoke next, "Bella. Don't you get it -- Rosalie and Emmet = Couple. Me and Jasper = Almost couple. You and Edward = Couple to be. It's like a couple's night, but with a totally valid excuse! It's perfect really…" Alice spoke almost in awe of Rosalie's genius; you could tell Alice aspired to be like Rosalie, it was cute how much they loved being sisters.

"Ohh - I get it, I get it -- that's clever" Bella agreed, wanting to get in on the sisterly moment, "but how are we going to get him there?"

Alice smiled, "well you, Bella Swan, are very lucky and are going to get to learn a black belt flirting move that Rosalie taught me in the 10th grade…"

"Oh that's perfect!" Rosalie piped up, knowing exactly where she was going with it.

"What you have to do is send a text involving the plan but make it sound like it's intended for someone else - and then when he responds you say oh my gosh - that was supposed to be for so and so - but, you could come too if you want -- Isn't that genius???"

"Wow -- that really is!" Bella agreed, totally amazed by how much more advanced these two girls were in the flirting department then she was…

"Ok - so - Bella, give me your phone - I think I've got the perfect message for this situation" Bella handed her phone over to Rosalie and as Rosalie typed she said aloud what was going to be said, "Hey dad - just wanted to let you know I'm going to be staying overnight at the Cullen's, if that's ok? We're going to a late movie with Rosalie and Emmet."

"That's genius" said Alice for what seemed like the billionth time since Rosalie had joined them.

Rosalie hit send and the three of them waited anxiously for his reply. It came about a minute later, causing Alice to say, "See he's always so anxious to talk to her -- I think this going to end very well!"

"Well what's he say?" asked Bella impatiently.

Rosalie smiled as she read, "Bella - this Edward…not Charlie…so you're going to the movies with _my family_ without inviting _me_?"

Alice simply responded, "Wow."

Rosalie had been in stunned silence after reading it but then said, "Bella he is just begging for an invitation - this is so great!"

Bella took her phone to see it with her own eyes and then with Rosalie's coaching sent a response saying:

Sorry Edward! My dad's my only d contact and you're the first e, I guess I hit the button too many times….you welcome to come with us if you want!

Not even a minute had passed when his response arrived saying:

Ok - count me in =)

"He uses smileys!" Rosalie exclaimed.

"Yea," answered Bella, "all the time…"

Alice looked at Bella in awe, "Edward once gave me a 10 minute lecture on why smileys should be banned…."

The three of them sat silently taking that fact in before there was a knock on the door, "Come in," Alice chirped sweetly.

With that a fully clothed Edward came in the room, "Hey - so - what movie are we seeing? I felt stupid texting people who were not only in the same house but on the same floor as me…"

"Oh - um - the new Harry Potter." Replied Rosalie in a tone that made it very clear that this plan had not been fully developed.

"Cool - mind if I invite Jazz? He's been dying to see it…."

"Please do!" squealed Alice.

And with that Edward left leaving the girls in a fit of giggles, once again.

The girls soon moved on to other topics, mostly discussing Rosalie's life with Emmett in New York, and not too soon after Esme had called them all down for dinner.

**Okay - so not really a cliffhanger, but this isn't where I had planned to leave off the chapter. In fact the whole movie theatre event just kind of came to me as I was writing --- so I know this is short but as this is all I had planned I figured I'd post this part in mini sections… Hope you enjoyed! Please REVIEW!!! And if you really like it, recommend it to your friends!!! Thank you!**


	7. Awkward Beginnings and Magical Ends

**Hey All thanks so much for following this story - I apologize for the infrequent updates but I love writing and don't have much time to do it so please bare with me -- Speaking of Bare it is a fabulous story that everyone should read - so well written!**

**But enough of me going on, Enjoy the story!! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**

B POV

Dinner had been incredibly surreal; Edward sat next to me and the two of us laughed and chatted and teased the other's as if we had never been apart. We left for the movie almost immediately after and arrived to the theatre about half an hour before the movie started - the place was empty.

"Wow - and you people tell me this movie's supposed to be good," dead panned Emmet.

"Yes sweetie - it's just been out for a while…" Rosalie replied sweetly.

"Hm - well - I think I might have just thrown up in my mouth a little." Edward piped in sarcastically.

Alice, still being all strategy, moved on to more logically discussion, "So, where should we sit?"

I took a bit of control saying, "I think the middle - since no one's here it'll be a great view…"

Fast forward I ended up sitting next to Edward and I almost died.

However, Dumbledore was falling from the Astronomy tower and Edward had yet to say one word to me, let alone do anything involving the oh- so- important physical contact Alice had schooled me on.

I was pretty pissed, because I had really been expecting something to happen (despite that not being Alice and Rosalie's plan)- especially with the way we had ended things the other day after our boat ride before Jasper had interrupted.

It was an icy ride back to the house; he had definitely picked up on the fact I was mad about something he did (or didn't do) and I think the whole car could feel the tension we were exuding. By the time I got into the pajamas Alice had leant me for the night I was ready to just throw in the towel and move on, but that's when Alice burst the bubble of frustration I had been brewing, "What the hell is going on Bella??"

"Yea," piped in Rosalie, "You were totally psyched before we left and by the time the movie ended you were at like an all time low??? Did something happen?"

"No. That's just the thing - nothing happened." Alice and Rosalie looked confused, so I explained further, "I know this was just a little extra in your grand plan but I really thought something was going to happen tonight…I mean we almost kissed the other day at the boathouse and now tonight nothing - not one nudge or anything….he acted like he regretted even becoming my friend…."

Alice tried to interrupt, saying, "Bella. No - I'm sure he's just not sure what grounds your on or whatever - it'll all be totally fine!"

"No Alice - I'm done…I don't know who I was kidding…"

Rosalie had been quietly observing, I assume she was trying to figure out what to say to get back in control of the situation, because not too soon after she broke in saying, "Well, do you still want to be his friend?"

"Yeah…I mean. He's really fun and well when he's not all weird like he was tonight…."

"Ok - so here's my suggestion," Rosalie continued, "hang here tomorrow, test the waters of your friendship or whatever it is you want - go play manhunt - have fun and then come back here for the party the next night anyway -- still let Alice get you all made up - and then find someone else and if in the meantime you change your mind we can easily shift back to the original plan…"

I debated it in my head as Alice nodded enthusiastically before timidly agreeing, "Ok…I guess that's reasonable and I do still want to be his friend…"

"Great!" chimed Alice and Rosalie in unison

For the next hour or so the three of us chatted about the movie, especially how annoying it was they changed the way Harry was hidden for no good reason at all but then they dozed off to sleep and I was still feeling restless, and so I went down to the kitchen to get a glass of milk.

I was rummaging through the fridge when I heard footsteps, assuming it was Alice or Rosalie I just kept my head in the fridge and explained, "I couldn't sleep - sorry if I woke you."

But then I heard a low, masculine, utterly sexy voice come from the darkness saying, "How could you have woken me?" with a light air of humor to it.

I popped right out of the fridge upon my realization and yelped "Edward! I didn't realize it was you - I thought it was Alice or Rosalie….sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong….I couldn't sleep either - that's why I'm down here…are you sure you're ok? You're acting a little jumpy…"

"Oh - well - no - I'm fine. "

"How'd you like the movie?"

"Ehhh - it was funny and cute….but it wasn't what this movie should have been…."

"I know exactly what you mean! Like it was enjoyable but it just wasn't dramatic enough to lead up to 7 plus they cut so much!!"

"Yea - well that's to be expected….I gave up on that a long time ago and just try to view them as individual enterprises, ya know?"

"Yea - but it's so hard…"

We were in a friendly flowing conversation so perhaps he did still want to be my friend and he just felt weird the other day like Alice and Rosalie had said….I still wasn't sure though so I decided to play it cool and friendly until the party anyway, no need to jump ships so quickly, again.

We stayed up till almost 3am discussing Harry Potter and other movies we liked. It was around the time he started commenting on The Great Gatsby that I said I'd had enough and was ready to head to bed.

"Ok - well, sleep well Bella - I need you well rested for manhunt later on…"

"Yea - definitely!"

And with that I went to sleep content and full of joy.

I ended up staying at the Cullen's the whole day the next day, because it was just easier then Edward having to drive all the way back out to my house when the field we were using was less than a mile from his house.

Edward had gone out for a run so I informed Alice and Rosalie of the previous nights events over breakfast and informed them that I was still going to play it cool and lay off resuming the plan until the party happened but the news seemed to please them anyway. They were all talk of colors and styles for my dress and a palate for my makeup when I decided to go take a shower while everyone else was occupied elsewhere.

For as big a house as they have the Cullen's only have 1 shower and it's located in between Edward and Alice's rooms, so I made sure to take my towels and robe in with me just in case Edward did happen to come home early. The shower was relaxing and the warm water definitely calmed my anxieties about the night ahead of me.

As I toweled off I let myself fantasize about what could happen if Rosalie and Alice's plan did work out, as I slipped further and further into the realm of fantasy, I became so lost in thought that I didn't even hear the door click open but as I opened my eyes I saw a massive bush of coppery brown hair in the mirror and a piercing pair of golden eyes that felt glued to my body, all accompanied by a gaping mouth that seemed to wired so it couldn't close.

For a second we were both just frozen in time, statues, unable to move or speak. However I snapped out of it when the realization that Edward was staring at me naked hit and I yet again found myself screaming, "Edward!!!"

He jumped, completely startled as if he had forgotten where he was and who he was gaping at. "Bella - oh my god - Bella - I am so sorry - I was just - it wasn't locked and I didn't know and I'm so sorry Bella! I didn't mean to - I'm so sorry."

"Edward. Just shut up, stop staring at me, turn around and go back to your room. Thanks."

As he followed my commands all he kept repeating was, "I'm sorry Bella. I'm so sorry."

After he was gone I took a chance glance in the mirror, I was bright red. Great. Tonight was going to go swimmingly.

I spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding Edward at all costs, mostly just watching movies in Alice's room with her and Rosalie; we even ate lunch in the room so I wouldn't have to encounter him.

"Alice - Rosalie - what am I going to do tonight? We have to ride in a car together?!?!"

Rosalie gave me a calming smile as she reassuringly told me, "Just let it go - pretend it never happened - play it cool, remember? And if he gets all weird and awkward just goof on him - be like, 'what was that the first time you ever saw a girl naked or something -- laugh it off then leave it alone and you two will be totally fine, if not better…"

I smiled back, thanking her for her innate wisdom that I just completely lacked and then settled into a cozy, comatose nap until it was time for Edward and I to go.

We were settled into his Volvo, about 5 minutes into the journey, when Edward broke the silence that had plagued us since he had come up to get me to leave.

"It's cute that you have freckles."

"Excuse me?" I was so taken aback and shocked my brain literally turned to mush. Plus I was pretty sure every inch of my body was bright red in blush.

"You heard me. They're cute."

"Um - thanks?"

"Your welcome."

"Hey Edward, um - would you mind if we just - put this morning in the past…it was pretty uncomfortable for me and I'd just rather not discuss it or make it some bonding experience between us….ya know?"

"Oh - yeah - sorry -- I figured acting nonchalant about ti might be less awkward but maybe you're right…" he smiled, "So, are you excited to see my manhunt skills?"

"Your manhunt skills - I am a beast at manhunt!"

"Well, we're just going to have to see about that…and I mean, we all know you're not the most athletic, Bella."

"Is that a challenge, Edward?"

"Maybe." He smirked in delight and I couldn't help but smile too. I think we were both happy our normal ways of conversation had returned.

Soon after they arrived at the location for the game and were joining up with everyone else.

A few people were just there to hang, so they were playing games and one had actually brought a guitar.

I commented on it, "I wish I could play an instrument! I am so envious of people who can…"

Jasper was standing near by and had overheard what I said so he piped in saying, "Edward plays - maybe he could teach you Bella…"

I turned questioningly toward Edward as Jasper walked further toward us and said, "Edward - why didn't you ever tell me you play an instrument?"

Edward gave Jasper an evil look as he answered me, "Well it just never came up I guess…"

Jasper grinned before he continued, "Actually Bella, Edward plays guitar and piano…"

"Wow. Edward - seriously - I am going to be hitting you up for some lessons, man…"

"I don't know how good of a teacher I'd be Bella…I only fool around a little…."

Jasper looked enthralled, "Edward. Stop being modest, the girl is eating it up" he kidded, "Bella, since Mr. Shy over here isn't doing it I'm going to have to tell you - the boy's a musical genius….he plays both impeccably any style any period, he can play a whole library from memory - and not only that but he's composed some of his own stuff too…"

My mouth was hanging open by the end of Jasper's rant, "Edward. That is so incredibly cool - why didn't you ever tell me - all the time we talked about music, you never mentioned once…."

"It's not something I like to brag about it…" shrugged Edward.

There was a quiet lull in the conversation before Jasper proposed we start picking teams.

"Bella's on my team," piped up Edward.

"Oh but I thought I wasn't athletically skilled enough for you?" I teased.

Edward shook his head in amusement, "Tell you what - we'll have a thumb war - if you win, you get to pick whichever team you want to be on, but if you lose your on my team - that way I get the handicap." It was all a huge joke but everyone "oooo'd" anyway as I said "Your on."

We sat down at the picnic table and the crowd gathered around us. We battled it out for almost 5 minutes with multiple almost wins on both sides, but in the end I was the champion.

"Edward, you totally let me win. I'll never forgive you." I teased sarcastically.

"Bella - I didn't let you win. You're just that good…"

"So - you lost to me? The totally athletically unskilled girl??"

"Yes Bella - I guess that would be the case." He was smiling as he said it and it was time for me to pick a team. I hadn't totally thrown in the towel, but I also wanted to make him sweat a bit, and so I chose Jasper's team.

"Well now that that's taken care of - let's play."

My team hid first and I stayed in till the very end for five rounds, but on the 6th one I got caught by Mike Newton and was led off to prison.

Once there, I noticed Edward was in prison on his side as well; I waved and he grinned back. Perhaps I wasn't so over it…

I had been sitting there, gazing at the stars from my 'cell', for only mere moments when I felt a slight buzz come from my phone in my pocket, it was a text from Edward:

Wanna get out of here?

I was thrilled, 6 rounds of manhunt is about all I can take and they were talking about playing till 10… So I replied:

Most Definitely.

We both got up and headed toward his car where we both declared how over hiding in bushes we both were. I took it one step further and joked, "Ya know, unless it was for other reasons…"

"Wow. Bella Swan. Look how deep in the gutter your mind has gone."

"Yours is right there with mine -- I could have meant a number of things…."

"Right." We both smirked at each other and it was a strange moment not romantic or bonding just normal, like we had been making jokes like that our whole lives and we were sharing a memory.

We were on the road within minutes flying in the opposite direction of my house and so I dared the question, "Edward, where are we going?"

"Well, there's this really great spot I go sometimes just to think or read or sometimes I'll write…."

"You write?"

"Sometimes…"

"What do you write?"

"Sometimes stories, sometimes music…depends on my mood…."

"That's so cool - that you can write music - just think of the way you want something to sound and then make it happen…"

"It's a really great way of expression - like when I'm really happy or really sad or whatever - I just come up here and let my mind go on auto drive…I don't usually write down that stuff - that's all just spur of the moment…"

I smiled and shook my head in awe, "Well I envy you."

"Jasper's right - I probably could teach you…I've never tried to teach anyone before so I don't know how good I'll be at the whole explaining part of it but I can try…"

"Thanks, Edward, I'd really appreciate that. I mean that too - learning an instrument is something on my life to do list…"

"Oh really? What else is on your life to do list?"

"Well - besides all the traveling….I'd love to write a New York Times best seller…"

"Ambitious…"

"Yea…how about you?"

"Honestly. I would love to learn how to fly a plane - being able to just pick up and go anywhere I want at any time seems like such a blessing to me….I know it's kind of random but you already know almost everything else - about wanting to help the people in Turks and such…and after that I think I'd be happy just living a healthy, full life."

"You make it all seem so easy, like life's just going to happen and it'll all just fall into place…"

"Well, it will if you take the steps that make it…"

I thought about that in the silence as we drove the last few feet to a side road where Edward pulled over and parked.

Edward got out of the car saying, "It's just up ahead…"

We traveled the short distance and were met by a fence. "Edward - I - I know I won the thumb war but that wasn't really a great test - I'm an unathletic spaz - I can't climb a fence."

"Yes you can. I'll help you…"

Edward kneeled down on one knee which I stepped on and then a hand a little higher for my other foot, then I was climbing on the links of the fence, he told me to stay up there till he was over and I did, and I was grateful because it turned out he did it that way so he could be there to catch me if I fell while climbing down the other side (which I did - near the bottom).

After catching me, Edward's hands lingered on my arms a bit longer then they should have and I had a feeling that Rosalie and Alice would have deemed that a good sign - so perhaps the game was back on?

He started walking ahead with me in tow, "It's not too much further."

And with that, he parted the wispy branches of a tree and revealed the most beautiful site I had ever seen. It was a beautiful meadow with delicate violet toned wildflowers scattered in abundance across the grass, further ahead was a quarry of rocks that blocked off the edge of a cliff. This haven overlooked the crystal icy blue water and since it was night it shined with the silver of the moon and was one of the most breathtaking sites I'd ever seen.

"What do you think?" He asked me almost in a whisper.

"It's magical."

"You're the first person I've ever taken here…"

"I love it Edward - really."

We stood there together just admiring the view, fireflies twinkling all around us.

"Don't you just love fireflies?"

He smiled at me before replying, "They're pretty cool."

I laughed at his attempt - "No, there like - little floating bits of glitter, remaining traces of fairies and magic." I smiled, knowing I sounded slightly ridiculous in my attempt to be whimsical.

He was quiet for a moment before saying, "Well you know what I think is magical?"

I bit my lip out of nervousness, not sure where he was taking this, "What?"

"This. Being here. Right now. With you. We were separated for so long - and I am just so glad that we had the opportunity to become such good friends again --- you're my best friend Bella." He said the words best friend in almost a sad tone but I didn't think much of it, since I was too preoccupied trying to figure out what that meant, and if that was a good thing or a bad thing but it had been a good night so I went with a good thing - hoping Alice and Rosalie could clarify later and just said, " I'm glad we got to be together again too."

We stayed a bit longer, admiring the stars and the view, before hopping back over the fence and heading back to my house where he dropped me off, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my fantasies.

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	8. Parties and Possibilities

**6 Months later I'm back!!! I apologize to the nth degree - life got crazy and I lost my motivation but I'm back!!! Hope you enjoy**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

The next day I woke up feeling like I was radiating light and joy. It had been such a great night and now here I was at my moment of truth - the day of the party.

I spent a good chunk of time on the computer; updating my mom on the craziness my life had become, creeping on my friend's facebooks and responding to various group and event invitations. I had just updated my status to one of my favorite quotes: "If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes." When I saw it - Edward had poked me!

What did that mean?????

I poked him back, hoping that's what Alice would have told me to do, before throwing on sweats and going down to the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast before heading over to the Cullen's.

Alice had big plans for getting me ready and she wanted me there promptly at 1pm.

I chugged orange juice and gulfed down a bagel with some cream cheese on it before running to pack a bag - I was also going to be staying the night.

Once my bag was packed with the essentials I took a quick shower and put on some plain clothes I could risk getting dirty while Alice went crazy with products that were foreign to me.

I arrived right on time, grateful to the fact Edward seemed to be out of the house; after last night Alice and I had both agreed it might be best for me to just hide until my big reveal.

They dove right in! As I told them all about my night, they straightened my hair, coated it with products that would make it shine and prevent any frizz and then set it atop my head in giant banana rollers that would give it "just the right wave" as Rosalie told me.

As the process continued I told them every minute detail as to fill them in so we could come up with an appropriate follow up plan.

"The phrase that's worrying me is 'best friend', you say he sounded sad?" asked Rosalie.

"Yeah --- like not disappointed but not happy like just very strange - I can't put an emotion to it…" I explained.

"Well, before we try and figure any of that out - did you decide what you want? Back in it or just a friend?" questioned Alice.

I replied quickly, "Would I be putting so much thought into this if I wasn't??"

Alice laughed, "well ok then. Let's not worry about friend, not friend -- not now anyway…feel him out tonight, try to see what he's thinking. Don't you think that's a good course of action, Rose? With all these confusing signals…."

Rosalie pondered the proposition for a moment, "It could be a good idea….because on the one side we have this sad toned best friend comment but then on the other we have the poking" Rosalie said it with amusement and a giggle, "that occurred this morning. Yes. I would say continue with the flirty course of action but don't be to strong and try to see how he responds to different levels - feel him out as Alice said, see where he stands, or else try…"

I nodded, completely unsure of how I was going to do any of that -- I couldn't even handle basic flirting how was I going to manage this complicated tango act they were asking me to perform. They cranked up the music to start getting me in the party mood and continued with their primping and prodding.

After my hair was set they began to moisturize every inch of me that would show - they said it would make my skin glow and keep me from looking like a ghost. Then came the foundations, bronzer and finishing powder to seal together the perfectly even, non-blemished skin tone they'd given me. They then decided it was a good time to do my nails, Alice had chosen a soft silver tone that had a slight hint of glitter to it, she said it would go perfectly with my dress, which I hadn't yet seen. While she was painting, Rosalie went over a basic of refreshers for my flirting challenged self.

Gentle, slight touches; innocent teasing; joke around playfully; don't be afraid to slip in some sexually charged tension; and of course show interest in him and what he talks about - but don't be fake about it!

When my nails were done, Rosalie took charge of face while Alice went to pick a perfect perfume for me to wear. First came the eyeliner - thick enough to be sexy but not so much that I looked sleazy - and lip liner, to help make my lips look fuller and as Rosalie put it "more kissable".

She then applied a small amount of chap -stick to my lips, "to keep them moist", and a light plum-y colored eye shadow to my lids. She then dusted a light, silvery colored eye shadow over it and blended them to make the perfect cornucopia of color below my brow. Next came the mascara. First there was a coat that separated my lashes, to highlight them each individually. Then there was one that thickened and lengthened them to make them look fuller. And there was a final coat that refined the look and just sort of somehow made it come together.

Just as Rosalie was finishing up my eyes Alice returned carrying a garment bag and a few other little shopping bags. First she made a fuss over how amazing I looked despite still being in my sweats. Then she told me to yank off my sweats and threw me a pair of panty-hose. "They'll make your legs look longer, more toned, and have a better colored, smoother over all appearance."

I did as the boss lady said and she was actually right, for the first time in my life I thought I had nice legs.

Next she threw me a bag and told me "It's a new bra. Go in the bathroom and put it on, your bras give you boobs like a 13 year old…"

I laughed, knowing she was absolutely right, and headed to the bathroom. After putting it on I assessed myself in the mirror and well , Alice really knew how to pick them - I looked at least a cup and a ½ bigger and actually had some cleavage for once. I threw back on my t-shirt and ran back to Alice's room where hooting at my new rack ensued.

Alice was shocked stating, "I knew they said it would make you bigger on the package but I had no idea it would be true -- I just thought it would perk you up a little." Alice said with a wink and a laugh.

After the laughter subsided, they took my hair down from the rollers and fixed it just slightly to get it just so, before spraying it with a light hairspray.

Next came my jewelry - Alice had picked out some gorgeous pieces -- all costume of course, but they looked fabulous - A bracelet of 5 individual stands of what looked like diamonds that were linked in the back by the clasp; A small pendant of the same stone on a delicate silver chain and matching earring that weren't so big that they were overwhelming but large enough that they wouldn't disappear in my hair.

Then they instructed me to take off my t-shirt and walk back and forth as they spritzed perfume, forming a fragrance cloud that would cling to my skin and hair as I passed through.

And then finally, my dress. I couldn't help but love it -- It was dark purple, shiny and iridescent; a sort of silky satin with a silver sequined band around the waist. It had a handkerchief skirt, shorter in the front then the back with a flow to it as if it were chiffon, sort of like the famous Marilyn Monroe dress only with a sexier cut at the neck and a more hugging feel in the bodice. It had a deep V-neck that showed off my new cleavage and tied like a halter by my neck. I put it on and despite myself, it felt magical -- I actually felt beautiful for once.

While in my reverie, they shoved a box at me and told me to 'put them on', it was a pair of a heels. They were black, with a smattering of silver on a buckle like ribbon that was near the toe area, they had a 4 inch stiletto heel(!!!) and looked absolutely perfect -- for anyone but me!

"How do you except me to even move in these???"

"Alice's idea - I was going to go with a nice pair of silver 2 inch sling backs with a wedge type heel, but little miss fashionista told me 'that just wouldn't do'." Rosalie quickly interjected.

"Alice --- I get that you want me to look like the fashion model I'll never actually be, but can you give me a break --- I'd prefer to be able to at least walk tonight…"

Alice looked puzzled, trying to think of how to talk me into wearing them, "Ok, just stop! First of all, fashion model you'll never be? Have you looked in the mirror - you look better than most fashion models I've seen….and you could totally rock these! Not only do they compliment the dress perfectly but they'll totally add to your legs and make you a total knock out -- every guy at the party is going to have their eyes glued to you….."

"But my plan is just to get Edward."

"Well, he will be one of those guys - AND they're sexy, and show you have confidence in yourself."

"But I don't -- I'm going to be a nervous wreck!"

"It just takes concentration and confidence - and you'll walk in them like a champ…put them on and we'll do a few trials down the hall."

I stared at her, challenging her to make me. "Ehhh - fine."

She immediately had a grin plastered on her face and was shoving my feet into the death traps before I could change my mind. Once they were on I stood up "How do they feel?" they questioned me.

"Ok…I mean maybe I do just need to walk and get used to them?"

"Yes! Yes - let's do that --- out in the hall, I'll watch you - Rose why don't you go make sure everything's ready downstairs?"Alice forged on excitedly.

"Ok --- you look really beautiful Bella, Alice just don't forget to put her lip gloss on her before she comes down."

Alice yelled after Rose, "I won't" as she descended the grand stair case to the Cullens' living room.

I walked back and forth, up and down the hallway until I felt absolutely secure. There was about half an hour until the party started and so Alice ushered me back into her room and started dusting a ballerina pink blush onto the apples of my cheeks and then glided a pouty sort of rose colored lip gloss that had a slight shimmer to it onto my lips.

She re -spritzed the crook of my neck, my forearms and just a wisp of my hair with perfume and then just made me relax on her bed until she called me…I think I drifted off because it felt like no time had passed at all when she called me to come down.

I stepped out of the room and walked to the top of the staircase when I realized I heard music playing, and people chatting - the party had already started. I saw Alice and asked her what the big idea was.

"Well, I figured if you made an entrance and Edward saw you catch the attention of every guy in the room he might reconsider that whole friendship thing."

"I'm going to kill you." I said while laughing.

Alice started to descend the stair case while I took a deep breath and collected myself; I had only taken two steps when I felt the eyes of the room glancing over me and assessing my every detail. I was burning red inside but knew it wouldn't show because of the loads of facial products Rosalie had used to conceal my natural skin tone. I try to act nonchalant and as if this was not big deal - like it happened everyday, but just as I was laughing at that in my head my heel bent and missed the next step, sending my flying down the rest of the flight in a tumble. I somehow landed sort of on my feet, with the aid of the arms of Mike Newton, someone had brought him as a guest. He had me in his arms and was staring at me intently, trying to gaze into my eyes but I was so struck with embarrassment I couldn't break away or reciprocrate, so it was just sort of this odd transaction when thankfully Alice and Rosalie came rushing to my side.

"Oh my god - Bella, are you ok??!" asked Rosalie

She and Alice both took me by an arm and lead me to the downstairs bathroom.

All about my look Alice dove in, "Well, you actually didn't ruin anything - your hair just got a little ruffled, but that's easily fixed." She grabbed a brush and some hair serum from a cabinet and got to work.

Rosalie took care of my ego, "Don't worry -- just laugh it off - it's fine!"

By the time my retouching and pep talk were done I could smell food and knew the buffet dinner had opened; I was grateful, because not only did it give me a purpose to walk outside and avoid people who tried to stop and talk to me, but because I was famished from not being allowed out of Alice's room all day. I was in line to get my share of Chicken Francaise when I felt someone come up close behind me and lean in close. It wasn't long until I heard the familiar, sexy toned voice I loved whispering "Nice entrance."

I whipped around and play pushed him saying "thanks a lot!"

"It was endearing." He recovered.

"Nice try…."I responded sweetly.

We both had gotten our food, hashing over how ridiculous an idea it was for me to conquer stairs in my current foot wear when we realize there were hardly any tables left.

"Well you know - the prettiest girls at the party are supposed to have VIP seating anyway…"he quipped.

"And where is this miraculous seating?"

"Follow me Madame."

He led the way through the room to the French doors that lead to the patio, he walked through them and we were transported to a wonderland of small white twinkly lights, candles and white silk.

"Rosalie had me decorate out here just in case seating ran out…looks like we're the lucky winners."

"Lucky us" I said gently shaking my head, chastising Rosalie for the plot in my mind.

We sat and talked about how weird it was that some of Rosalie's friends were married or engaged and how we were only a few years from all of that before there was a comfortable lull in the conversation.

I used the time to eat some of my food, where as he was just sort of staring at me smiling before a sort of sad look came over him and he said, "Damn…"

"What?"I asked him quietly.

"Nothing, nothing….it's just….well -- it's just that, you look really beautiful tonight."

"Thanks," I answered him uncertainly, "why the pained look?"

"I don't know…just jealous I guess…"

I was confused, "Jealous of who?"

He laughed to himself, "of alllll the guys who are going to charm you and woo you and take you away from me…"

I titled my head to the side and grabbed his hands across the table gently saying, "You're being ridiculous."

He looked at me quizzically. I continued, "you're saying that you're jealous of other guys because they'll get to have me in a different way then you but that's completely absurd, because I don't see any guys here in that way, I -"

Alice entered then and interrupted me, "Sorry to burst in on you two but there's a couple of people I really want you to meet Bella."

I looked at her, totally outrage and appalled, but she insisted, "Come on - it'll only take a minute."

I got up, since she really wasn't leaving me a choice and apologized to Edward, "I'm sorry - I'll be right back Edward."

Once out of ear shot I attacked Alice, "What were you thinking!?!? I finally was about to get somewhere."

Alice looked at me like I was the stupidest girl on the planet. "Exactly. Duhh - Too much, too fast -- you don't want to do the whole cheesy soap opera drama thing --- you want to ease into it in a relaxed, comfortable way with no cliché attached…"

"Ehh -- fine….but it should be noted that I really hate all these rules."

"Hey - atleast you know how he feels now, the balls in your cart. Now go talk to that guy over there - his name's Jacob Black and you have a ton in common, I guarantee Edward will cut in within 10 minutes."

"Whatever you say chief…"

I headed over to Jacob, a tall muscular tan boy who had grown up down on the reservation by La Push beach. It turned out we did actually have a lot in common and got a long great, but I was slightly bored by his continuous talk of cars and slightly distracted, because Edward was circling the room around us making funny faces at me. Eventually he did just as Alice said he would and walked right up to us and asked "May I borrow Ms. Swan for a moment?"

Jacob didn't know how to respond to Edward's playful behavior so he just said "ummm ok?" and with that Edward whisked me away toward the dance floor where we fell into time with the music and danced to a slow song with beautiful ease and consideration of each other's natural rhythms.

We turned and swayed and spun all around and it was probably one of the most exhilarating moments in my life. As the song came to an end he leaned into my ear and asked if I'd like to get some air.

I agreed and this time he led me toward the yard that had a giant porch swing which we both sat on.

"The moon's beautiful tonight," I stalled.

"Yeah…"

There was a minute of silence and then he said, "So, would you care to finish up what you were saying before?"

"Hah -" I laughed, "I was mid sentence, wasn't I?"

"Just maybe…"

"Well I don't remember exactly what I was going to say," I lied as I stood and crossed to a different section of the porch, "but I think it was along the lines of that you took yourself out of the running a little bit too soon."

He stood and crossed to me and put one hand on my shoulder as he took my hand with his other before saying, "You don't say?"

"Yeah…" I said mystically as I tilted my head up to look at him.

"So I'm not alone in this -- you've been feeling something too?"

"Well as much as I'd like to stay away from cheesy clichés, yeah -- I would say there's definitely something there…"

"Interesting…"

I smiled and nodded slightly as I said, "Yeah…very interesting."

Still holding that position we fell into a lull but I broke it asking "Tell me Mr. Cullen, what are you thinking at this very second?"

He looked down at the floor before meeting my eyes and saying, "I am thinking that you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen and there is nothing more in this world that I want than to kiss you this instant."

I smiled and leaned into his ear very closely, taking my cues from Alice and Rosalie, and whispered "So then do it."

He looked at me in shock and I coyly nodded.

Just then it was as if time had slowed down, he leaned closer and I leaned closer and then he closed the gap between us and our lips pressed together and it was magic. It was heat and fire and chills and ice and soft and tender yet sexy and rough with impulse and full of uncertainties and desire and sureness. It was perfect.

We parted, both smiling tremendously huge smiles.

"I'm so glad you moved back," he whispered softly.

I leaned against his neck and whispered, "so am I."

We stood there for a moment just like that, enjoying the fact that we were finally on the same wave length before we decided to head inside and clue in the desperate -for- details Alice and Rosalie.

The rest of the party was a smash, everyone had a great time and Alice and Rosalie were thrilled about Edward and I's kiss.

We went to bed and gabbed about the entire thing from our pillows and if I wanted their help in the coming beginnings of the relationship, grateful as I was for the offer I turned them down.

After they drifted off to sleep I was too jittery to rest and got up to go down to the kitchen for some leftovers, seeing as I never did get to eat too much at the party.

I sat by myself just thinking about what might happen after this point and where my life was headed as I ate up some delicious penne a la vodka, after cleaning my dish and re-packing the leftovers headed up the steps when I became aware of a light in the hall. It turned out it was coming from the bathroom and just as I had paused to decipher where the light was coming from out a figure emerged. It was toned, topless, and had a mess of copper hair -- it was Edward and he looked like a god.

He saw me and said, "Oh -- hey? What are you doing up and standing in the hallway??"

"Oh - um, I couldn't sleep - so I went and ate some left overs, hah -- and hten when I saw the light on I just wanted to see where it was coming from and then out popped you." I laughed quietly.

"Oh, well - thanks for that thorough analysis….you can't sleep?"

"No -- I guess I'm just jittery or something…"

"What are you jittery about?" Edward asked with a smirk.

"I think you have a good idea."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because it's you…" I laughed at his ignorance of my nerves, "this whole thing…"

"But - why does that make you jittery? Shouldn't that make you happy?" he proceeded.

I smiled, not knowing why myself before saying, "I don't know…I gues it's just - I don't know…."

"No -- what's going on?" He was on to me.

"Well -- umm…it's sill really…"I stalled.

"I want to know - you can tell me anything, Bella."

Why'd he have to be so sweet? "Well, it's just that I've never really done this before -- the whole boyfriend thing…"

"So, you've never had a boyfriend, big deal"

"Well no - I mean I've had little flings but they weren't serious -- they didn't mean anything to me --- and, I care about you Edward, I just don't want to mess this up."

"Hey -- hey, I care about you too Bella, and you could never do anything that would make me change my mind. We'll just take everything as it comes….I just got you back in my life and I don't plan for you to ever leave it again…"

I didn't what to say to that, so I just said, "ok."

Edward put his arm around me and then tried to lighten the mood, "Now that you've gotten us all mello-drama-ed out, how about we liven the mood a little -- I wasn't sleeping very well either and was in the middle of playing Wii Bowling - wanna join me?"

"In your room?"

"That was the general idea…"

"Ummm….ok." I agreed timidly, because despite his reassuring speech, I was really scared that us being in the same house all the time, unsupervised, was going to lead us to move too fast….


	9. The Past and the Present

**Hey everyone - see this update didn't take 5 million bajillion years!!! I hope you're enjoying it --- I'm changing the rating by the way - I'm too old fashioned and too much of a romantic to write an M so we're dropping down a letter - I hope you keep reading and maybe an M chapter will get posted as a one shot at some point….PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**

**Disclaimer: Characters and all that belong to Stephanie Meyer….**

I followed him into his room and was greeted by an aroma that was a mix of his cologne , Polo by Ralph Lauren - a warm, fresh, earthy mix of musk and sweetness and amber and just a touch of spice- earth, and a touch of lemony laundry detergent from the basket of clean clothes in the corner. As he shuffled around throwing clothing from the bed to his desk chair, I surveyed the room taking in the overstuffed book case by his window, the many band posters of who he had claimed were his favorites that day in the car, the framed pictures of his family and friends that his mom obviously had picked and placed, and his bedspread - a puffy black canvas like comforter that just begged for being pounced on, and so I did.

He turned to hand me a remote for the wii and when he saw me mid jump he laughed, when I picked up a pillow in a way that threatened I'd throw it he said, "Oh no you don't!"

I threw it. He jumped on the bed then too and began to tackle me as I ineffectively tried to take a second swing with another pillow, and then he tickled me. I am a very ticklish person and so I was in a fit of giggles, begging for him to stop in mere seconds. One second I was begging for mercy and the next thing I knew his mouth was covering mine and we were playfully kissing but then it advanced even further. It very quickly escalated to a full on make out session, our bodies were welded together our limbs tangled, his hands woven into my hair and mine engraved into his neck. We were breathing heavy and were hot from our passion so we decided to peel ourselves apart for a breather. He opened the window and we sat and just chatted.

He was smiling, staring out the window and so I walked over to him and draped my arms around him, and he soon enveloped his arms around me as well.

"What are you smiling about?" I questioned him.

"Hah - the man in the moon." He pointed out his window and gestured toward the moon.

I smiled as I remembered the moment by the lake when we had discussed the very topic.

"This is amazing" I confessed.

He nodded and in the process kissed me on my forehead. He then spun me around and kissed me a bit more passionately before saying "Ok - go back to my sisters room before I hold you captive and have to get a lecture in the morning from the worlds' most bossy sister."

I nudged him in the side playfully, "hey - you're talking about my friend!" I feined upset and crossed my arms, loving the "oh shit - I crossed a line" face he had on.

He back peddled "Well - you know, babe - she's my sister she acts diff --"

I interrupted him before he could get any further, "I'm kidding Edward! Alice and Rose both can be bossy little missys.."

He smiled in spite of himself, seeing how he got caught in my joke and said, "easy now - you're talking about my sisters." He was smiling as he said it, not even bothering to hide the fact he was kidding. "Now scoot before I really make you pay for it."

He lunged to tickle me but I was out the door before he could get me, just then the door cracked open, he grabbed me, gave me one soft, gentle peck of a kiss goodnight and then was back inside his fortress.

I walked back to Alice's room and was in dreamland before I knew it.

The next morning went by in a whir, Edward had gone for a run so I just got together my things, grabbed a bagel and some juice from the counter of breakfast food Esme had set out, and hit the road in my truck to get back home before Charlie had to leave for a fishing trip he was going on with Billy Black.

Once I got home, I threw my dirty clothes in with a load of wash, made some coffee for my dad to take on the road with him, and hopped into the shower. As the warm water ran over me, I reveled in the memories of last night and wondered at the prospect of what might be up ahead. After hopping out and toweling off I threw on the Princeton sweats my mom had gotten me after graduation and one of my favorite t - shirts, I had gotten it from a friend as a gag gift when I decided on the whole English major thing, that had a picture of Shakespeare on it and underneath it read 'Prose before Hoes'. I decided the bathroom could use a cleaning and headed that way about a ½ hour after Charlie left for his trip.

I was just finishing up, putting away the supplies when I heard the faint ring of the doorbell. I took off my gloves and went to answer it, I was shocked when I saw Edward at the door.

"Hey Edward!" I said in delighted shock.

"Hey" he leaned in and kissed me, "sorry to just stop by like this but you were gone when I got back from my run and I never got a chance to say goodbye" he kissed me again, "and I saw Charlie's car was gone." He smiled fiendishly.

I laughed to myself, "You little tease….he's on an overnight fishing trip - not a month long safari through the rain forest…"

"So what did I interrupt you doing?"

"Well, I just finished cleaning the bathroom and I was about to make some chocolate chip cookies….I know it's a bit more glamorous then you're probably used to but if you'd like to help you're more then welcome."

"Chocolate chip cookies?!?! I mean - are you sure, I'd be honored."

We laughed at our bad joke and I started to get out the ingredients as Edward followed the recipe I had gotten out and measured ingredients into the bowl.

We were chattering non sense and laughing before I knew it and the cookies were in the oven baking, timed to perfection. While we waited we decided we'd start to watch a movie on TV but sitting closely together on the couch fast became cuddling and cuddling soon evolved into an all out arms wrapped around, fingers dung into hair, bodies closer than ever imaginable make out session. Just as I thought Edward was going to try to take it further we were saved by the bell as the cookies rang, singing out that they were done and had reached their heightened state of perfection. I took them out and placed them on a try to cool and Edward poured us a glass of milk for us to share, since it was only good for dunking anyway - it was the way we had shared our snacks all those years ago and he still remembered. As I placed the last cookie on a plate I got an idea in my head.

"Follow me - there's something I want to show you…" I said cryptically as I walked down the hall to the back door which led to the yard. Edward pestered me about what was up through the entire walk but shut up once we stepped onto the soft, fresh, electric green grass and he saw it: Our tee house.

It came about one day when we were children and we spilled paint on the rug in my living room, my mom had a fit and my parents realized there wasn't really anywhere for me to spread out and play with a friend since I had a small bedroom that was crowded by doll houses and furniture that I would out grow. They solved the problem that weekend - Edward's dad , Carlisle, and my dad did a little research, bought some supplies and built us a tree house.

It was actually the size of a small garage, definitely bigger than your average fisher - price playhouse, probably about 8' by 10' , you get the idea I'm sure - it was bigger than an average tree house but smaller than an average car garage. There was a rope ladder to climb up into a hatch in the floor and there was a secret back entrance that had steps going into our actual garage, so if my mom or dad had to come up they didn't have to climb. The roof was high enough so a full grown adult could stand upright and was painted pink. The rest of the house was white with pink trim - my mom picked the colors. There were two large picture windows so we could feel like we were still outside and get lots of natural light and then the inside walls were painted a light blue like the sky on a clear spring day and then Esme, Edward's mom, did this beautiful mural of all different clouds - in different shapes and shades, it made the room look so fun! She even added in different colored birds in various spots around the room so it looked like they were flying around us. They left the floor wood, but put down a varnish so it wouldn't splinter and hurt us and then Esme found an area rug to go toward the back so if we wanted to sit and be comfortable we could. It was bright orange, shag --- definitely left over from the 60s - but we thought it was awesome, and it did make it comfy! When we got older we added bean bags for comfort and just kept them pushed up against the wall. The room definitely evolved as we did -- when I developed a love for reading a small book case was added with a revolving stuffing of books, when Edward went through a pokemon card phase they were suddenly all over the place. But now all that remained were a few old favorites on the book case and some remaining art work from their youth that hung on the walls, the bean bags were piled in a corner and the rug definitely needed a good vacuuming but a trip down memory lane never hurt anyone so she figured it would be a good location for snack time.

"You seriously want to eat these up there?" Edward inquired.

"Why not?"

"Nobody's been up there in years…"

"Are you scared?!?" I was shocked at his timidness.

"No - no, it's just --"

"It's just that you're a chicken" I joked, "bock - bock - bock- bock, come on!!" I tugged his arm as he grumbled and moaned, "stop being such a baby….you first!" I gave him a gentle nudge to the shoulder and he started climbing. I immediately followed behind him so he would have no choice but to go up.

Within seconds he had reached the top and popped open the hatch, we climbed through and took a look around - not much had changed, it was a little dusty and the drawings on the walls had yellowed a bit but otherwise it was frozen in time.

Edward bounced timidly testing the wood for support, when he seemed happy he visibly calmed and shook the rug out, holding it outside through the hatch in the floor. After it had been whacked clean, he placed the orange softness down and we took our seats.

"It's so quiet up here." Spoke Edward.

"Too quiet," I bemoaned, "I'm going to run and get a radio."

I ran down our back staircase and searched the garage for a radio, once I found one I ran back up only to find Edward playing with a lady bug.

"Found a new friend, I see."

"This little guy was trying to intrude, so I picked him up to escort him out, but he was so cute I couldn't let him go."

"You're a sap." I stated as I took my place on the carpet.

"You do it then."

He stuck his insect holding finger out towards me and I timidly connecting my fingertip to his, forming a bridge for the ladybug to cross. It was on only a cm of my finger and I fell in love.

"I see what you mean -- maybe he can just live in here?"

"Who's the sap now," Edward teased.

"What should we name him?" I asked , ignoring Edward's comment as I found a radio station.

"How 'bout Willy?" Edward said gesturing toward my T-shirt.

I laughed, "Yess! That's perfect."

We fell into an easy conversation about the party last night, discussing all the gossip of the who's who and how Rosalie and Alice felt about it all. We made small jokes about our moments together and how it had all occurred in such a cheesy manner, while munching on the delicious chocolate chip cookies we had made.

An easy lull in the conversation was descending as "Some Enchanted Evening" started up on the radio (what station were we listening to?).

Just as I was about to make a sarcastic quip, Edward jumped up, extended his hand and said "May I have this dance?"

Really - is he actually this cheesy? I thought to myself -- it was sort of endearing , I could definitely live with it, it wasn't even annoying, just sort of off-putting….yeah - this would probably become one of my favorite features about him.

I looked up and smiled at him, "Certainly" I gave him my hand and he pulled me up. We circled and swayed to the romantic tune, totally in silence, just enjoying the feeling of holding one another.

As the song came to an an end, he spun me and pulled me in close, tilting my chin up toward him as he leaned in and kissed me. I took a daring move, for me, and deepened the kiss. He led us to the floor and soon enough we were all over each other putting the shag rug to use I'm sure Esme never even imagined when she first got it for us.

I don't even know how much time had passed when we heard a distant boom of thunder and ended our excursions up in the tree. We closed the hatch and took the stairs to the garage and went into the house back to the kitchen where I washed our plate and glass and he snuck up behind me to corner me and continue where we'd left off. At some point I hoisted myself onto the ledge of the sink and was teetering on there while loving every second of Edward's hands in my hair and around my waist, his tongue exploring my mouth and his hot breath on my wet skin as he moved from my mouth to my jaw line to my neck and back again.

It was around 5:00 when we were forced to stop by Edward's ringing phone.

"Hey mom. -- Oh, um yeah - sure ---" Edward spoke into the phone, then to me "do you want to eat dinner at my house tonight? My mom doesn't want you to be lonely while Charlie's gone."

"Oh - um, yeah - sure" I answered.

"Mom -- yeah, she said sure. -- Ok -- we'll head over soon. By mom --- love you too."

I smiled at the cute end to his conversation.

"What are you smiling about?" He noticed.

"Nothing -- you're just way too adorable sometimes."

He tackled me with a kiss but then cut away saying, "Sorry - we gotta go…dinners in 20 - and with the rain it'll take us at least 15 from here…"

We were on the road in minutes and were driving through the storm in his car.

"I could've driven Edward -- now you're going to have to come back here later…."

"Well first of all that's really not a big deal - second Esme wouldn't have been happy I let you drive in the weather - ever since Turks she flips out with rain, since it's such a bigger issue there, and third - and most importantly - that was kind of the idea." He winked.

"You're wicked."

"And you sound like you're from Harry Potter."

"Wrong use of wicked…." I smiled and we laughed.

We fell back into a comfortable silence and moments later I felt his hand surrounding mine. It was the first time we'd held hands and it felt like magic - warm and comforting and somehow more intimate then any kiss probably ever could. We stayed like that for the remainder of the ride and when we finally got to his house and were parked in the garage I immediately gave him the closest, most encompassing, chaste hug I could manage to show how I felt about it. I pulled away slightly and we just looked into each other's eyes smiling before he pulled me back in and then gave me a small peck before we headed into the house with our arms entwined, holding hands.

"Ahhhh!!!" screamed Alice when she saw us. She ran toward us and gave us a big hug before play pushing me and saying "Details. Later. 100% necessary."

I smiled and laughed as I agreed, "you got it Alice. Don't worry."

Dinner was already on the table and most of the family was already gathered around the table, so Edward and I were forced to sit on opposite sides of the table pretty far removed from each other. Which was fine, I guess, we were just slightly bummed, but it was good in a way because it let Edward bond more with Emmett who he doesn't get to see too often since he and Rosalie moved to New York which let me a) gossip with Alice and Rosalie about how everything with me and Edward came about and about what we did today before Esme sat down and b) actually get the chance to talk to Esme.

A little ways into the delicious dinner Esme had prepared, she had made the most amazing mixture of chicken, mushroom, basil and rice that she had adapted from a recipe she learned in the islands, when the conversation became more table-wide and I had been sneaking glances at Edward all night. It was while Carlisle was in the middle of a story about something cute one of his younger patients had said when I looked over at Edward and was met by Edward looking right back at me! We both looked sort of surprised, but neither of us turned away, which was my first instinct (and before yesterday definitely would have been what I'd have done), we held our ground and just smiled, looking into each others eyes. It felt as though time had stood still, but our trance was broken by the unsuspecting bystanders who were now laughing at the climax of Carlisle's story. I thought our moment had gone by unnoticed when I felt a kick coming from Alice across the table and she began to silently mouth the words "Oh - my God - - Way to Cute!" I rolled my eyes and just continued eating, still looking up at Edward from time to time, sometimes catching his eye, sometimes going unnoticed. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and it was comforting to know that I was welcome and cared for by everyone in Edwards family, because they were beginning to feel like an extension of my own - almost like nothing had changed since we parted ways back then.

We finished the night with bowls of ice cream complete with the works and a game of charades - Rosalie and Emmet won but Edward and I were a very close second. Edward drove me home soon after, just as the moon was rising and the stars were beginning to twinkle - it was a warm night but there was still a gentle breeze. We traveled with the windows down and the radio registering a low drum in the background - we held hands and spoke lightly about the night and how we should have won charade and how wacky - in a cute way - his parents are. We got to my house and he put the car in park and we took our time saying good bye and goodnight underneath the beautiful mural of the deep velvet indigo sky and clear, diamond stars; the trees and the sweeping wind. Eventually we parted with a kiss goodnight and I was in a state of perfect bliss; he waited until I was in the house and then he drove off and I watched till he was in the distance, and as I watched I thought I could definitely fall in love with this boy that I used to make mud pies and color with.

Whoever would have thought?

**So, what did you think???? GO REVIEW!!!! And recommend it to your friends!!! **

**PS: I know my chapters are short but that's just my style so I apologize if you don't like it but that's the way it's probably going to stay…. **


	10. Disney, Dinner and Dad

**So, thank you to all of you out there who have been reading and COMMENTING!!!! Seriously, getting a review is like getting a hug and is soooo encouraging and inspiring!! More from me at the bottom, since you've probably skipped this already - lol**

**Disclaimer: Plots mine, Bella and Edward and co. are Steph Meyers.**

A few days past filled with reading, lounging, babysitting, 1 trip to the lake to tan with Alice while Rosalie made a short trip back to NYC for a work thing, and a shopping trip to Port Angeles. The babysitting was great, because it kept me busy and kept my wallet from being empty. The reading and lounging were extremely relaxing and allowed me time to think and to savor the place my life was at, a place I was absolutely devouring with love. And the days with Alice were insanely fun but usually circled only 2 topics of conversation: 1 - Me and Edward, her want for details and updates was insatiable, and sort of annoying but in a caring way or 2- Her and Jasper, yes she was still determined to convert him from friendly hook up behind the bushes to boyfriend. They were making progress, hanging out in daylight with others was a monumental move and we had plans for a sort of double date - he thinks it's just a group hang out - type event soon. Notice though none of these days were filled with Edward…that is because he, Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle had gone on a male bonding trip. They were away for a week camping and "being men" down near the La Push Reservation. I missed him - - - a lot. He wanted to have a nice reunion date the night he got back but I had to baby sit so I worked it out with the woman I sit for and now Edward and I's first time together is going to be in the presence of a 6 yr. old, as he's going to be helping me babysit.

We were meeting at the house and arrived at pretty much at the same time around noon. After a few basic instructions from Nancy, the single mom we were working for, she was out the door and we were left with Shelley, a 6 yr. old who loved to explore and wore her dirty blonde hair short and curly - like a shorter Shirley Temple do. She had on a pink t-shirt and overalls and was definitely ready to play outside, so we headed for the back yard. She dove into the sand box right away, pretending to look for dinosaur fossils as Edward and I slipped off our summer default flip flops and stuck our feet in, sitting tremendously close together and holding hands as we did so.

"I think we still hold the record for most time spent in the sand box from when we were kids." I mused.

Edward laughed, "Yeah - we definitely had our fare share of exploring….it's funny how we thought nothing of it then and now all I can think of is that this thing looks like a giant litter box."

I laughed, "oh my god! Your right - that's exactly what it is in all actuality….ew…"

"Sorry to ruin it for ya," Edward smiled.

I leaned my head on his shoulder to show him nothing could ruin this for me and just then Shelley looked up at us and asked "are you two in love?"

We stopped. Dead - in - our - tracks.

"Ummmmm" I searched for the words to answer her question….It was way too soon to say it, but did I? I knew I could one day -- but did I now???

I went with the old ans. a question with a question technique as Edward uselessly just sat there amused.

"What makes you ask that Shelley?"

"Well - you just look all the people on TV and in movies --- like well I was watching The Little Mermaid the other day and he looks at you like Prince Eric looks at Ariel! AND yoooouuu" she stretched her syllables in a way only a 6 year old girl can get away with, "act like Belle when she's around the Beast - after she wears the yellow dress - when you're with him. PLUSSSS you two totally just looked like Pocahontas and John Smith do like at the almost end of the movie --- when he's in that tent."

I was stunned. I was literally just looking at her, and then I snuck a look at Edward who was fighting back a fit of giggles.

"Well Shelley, those are movies and real life is -- " I totally had no idea what to say whatsoever, so I babbled "just - well kind of different, it doesn't always work the same, ya know so hey I think it might be time for a snack."

Diversion. Perfect tactic.

"CAN I HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!?!?!?!"

Success.

"Yes! Ofcourse!!! They're my favorite."

As she brushed the sand off her body Edward and I headed into the house and he laughed as he sarcastically said "Nice save there."

"Shut up - you were no help at all." I joke scolded him. Neither of us approached the actual answer to her question.

I started to put out the cookies when I noticed a bowl of mixed berries on the counter with a note that said 'For Snack Time'.

"Hey Shelley, I'll make you a deal -- you can have THREE cookies if you eat some of these awesome berries your mom left for us with them - deal?"

"Totallllly."

We finished up our snack as we chatted about barbies and Hannah Montannah and it was getting a little grey out.

Edward went and covered the sand box as I explained to Shelley that we had to stay inside because it might rain.

"What do you want to do instead?" I asked, letting her know the fun didn't have to end.

"Wellll --" she made a face that showed she was thinking as she came to a decision and answered me, "can we make those bracelets you showed me how to do last time?"

"Sure -- I'll get the supplies out!"

When Edward returned we were both braiding string, well on our way to a new piece of jewelry.

"Well what have we got here," he questioned.

"We're making bracelets." Shelley answered him with a "duh" tone to her voice.

Edward looked at me as if to say "can you believe her" and I shrugged my shoulders in response before saying "Want me to teach you?"

He rolled his eyes and said "Sure."

I attempted to show Edward how to weave the string in and out but he just couldn't get the hang of it, he would start but then get tangled somewhere and have to start over.

Soon enough Nancy came home and it was time for us to go, I hadn't spent too much time with my dad lately and so I was going to be having a night with him but I asked Edward to join us as well.

We took our separate cars back to my house, and ran through the now pouring rain into my house. We kicked off our shoes as I yelled "Daddd! I'm home!! Edward's here!"

My dad came around the corner just then, "Hey Bells - Edward." They did that weird guy thing where they exchange nods as a greeting as Edward said "Sir."

As the strange moment closed I jumped in, "Well, I'm going to go change into some dry clothes - dad why don't you order the pizza? Did you pick up the movie??"

I chattered as I headed up to my room, when I was a kid my dad and I went to go see 'The Rookie' while my mom was away for a weekend with friends and it was a bonding experience - we didn't spend much time together so it was kind of special - and now whenever I visit we watch it.

As I continued bounding up the stairs he yelled up, "Yep - got it this morning. What do you want on the pizza?"

"Ummm -- I could go for anything -- why don't you talk about it with Edward?" I hinted at my inner thought - 'talk to him!'

**Edwards POV**

I was left alone with the father of my girlfriend and I didn't know what to feel. Growing up he was like a second father, but now -- what was he? He still seemed sort of family like --- but -- he was my girlfriends father. I was debating where I stood in this dilemma when he broke the silence, "So Edward, what'll it be?"

Maybe he wasn't going to be the stereotypical dad…. "Classic Pepperoni's always a winner."

"Alright then, pepperoni it is."

Charlie went to call in the order and I was left alone in the living room. I walked around observing the once familiar surroundings and taking in the photos along the mantel and on the walls. Mostly of Bella- her graduation, childhood, dance recitals, day after getting braces off, the usuals - some were of their whole family pre-divorce, a few even had me in them!

I was just reminiscing over one picture where Bella and I were in formal attire, totally covered in cake - it was taken at the wedding of one of our family's mutual friends from town and I had been the ring bearer and Bella was the flower girl, when Charlie re-entered the room.

"It's amazing to think you two were once that small."

I turned to face him, "It's funny the way things work out."

He smiled and nodded in a knowing way just as Bella was descending the last few steps of the staircase.

"So what was the verdict?"

Charlie spoke up, "Edward suggested we go classic -- cheese and pepperoni."

"Good choice!" she said as she bounced over to the couch where I was and plopped down next to me.

Charlie took a seat in the worn out lazy boy that sat in the corner and clicked on the TV.

"You call Bells - move now or wait till after pizza?"

Bella pursed her lips as she thought for a second, "Maybe after pizza?"

"Sounds good to me," Charlie agreed as he flipped through the channels, finally landing on a baseball game.

Bella's attention was peaked - she knew her dad was a huge Mariners fan and so she liked to show she cared - "Who are our boys playing tonight dad?"

"The damn Yankees", Charlie unhappily announced.

We watched for a few moments before the door bell rang and Bella jumped to answer.

She came back into the room with a delicious smelling cardboard box and a smirk "Daddy, the pizzaman would like his money." She giggled as she played with him.

I loved the way Bella and her dad got along, I feel like it was part of what made her who she was.

Charlie was up and headed to the door soon after and I took that as my cue to meet Bella in the kitchen.

I snuck up behind her and wrapped my arms around her as I kissed her on her temple, suprising her and causing her to burst into giggles as I pulled away to help set out the card board plates for the pizza.

Charlie came back in as I was finishing up, "What's so funny?"

Bella turned red and laughed even more while trying to spit out, "Edward just surprised me is all…" she glared at me and I loved it.

We ate up our pizza discussing what was new, baseball, and our plans for the near future -- sort of like a mix between the "get to know the new boyfriend routine" and the "reunite with an old family friend routine".

Soon enough we were cleaning up and Bella was making popcorn.

We settled into our former positions on the couch and began watching "The Rookie".

Throughout the film Bella and her dad made little comments and jokes that only they could understand, based off of years of watching together.

I left after it was over, parting only with a small kiss goodnight on her porch, on account her dad could see us through the window.

I walked to my car and drove home thinking that if I could do this for the rest of my life I would definitely be ok with it.

**Bella's POV**

It was only about 20 minutes since Edward had left and I was watching reruns of "Boy Meets World" when my phone buzzed announcing the arrival of a picture message.

It was a picture of grassy meadow in a park, under the mask of night - lit by stars and moon and a far off street light. There was a message underneath that read

What are you doing Saturday? ;)

-E

Looks like I was going to be having an eventful weekend!

**Ok - I know its short but I promise to amke up for it in the next chapter!!!!**

**It's getting good now haha!!! Let me know what ya think in the comments….**

**More to come, so keep reading and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! 3**


	11. As Time Goes By

**So first off thank you to everyone who's been reading and to those of you who've been reviewing - you're amazing!!!!!! Your comments are so inspirational! Anyway, snow days make for great writing time! So here is the longest chapter yet…more from me at the bottom!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight related but the plot and originality are mine! 3**

It was Saturday. Edward had been being very mysterious and vague - the only details I had were to dress comfortably, to not eat before hand, and that he would be picking me up at noon.

I was sitting on the porch anxiously waiting when Edward pulled up. I went to get in when he started unloading his trunk.

"What's going on?" I let my curiosity show.

"Hah -- well, how do you feel about bikes?"

"Umm --- what?"

He lifted a bicycle out of his car. "How 'bout a bike ride?"

I was stunned.

"I don't have a bike here."

"Come on, Bella, we were in your garage just the other day --- I saw a bike."

Wow he had a good memory. "Oh -- well, that's my mom's old bike…."

"Give it a shot?"

I sighed in aggravation, I didn't know what he was up to and I really wasn't in the mood for games or extreme physical exertion, but despite that I headed for the garage.

Edward helped me carry it out and I gave it a try, it was a good size for me - despite all my wishes to the universe that it would be too tall or too short.

"Well, now that that's taken care of let's get going!" Edward piped up.

"Where exactly, if may I ask, are we going now?" I asked.

"Just follow me." He breathed as he grabbed a very full back pack and strapped it to himself, taking off down the road.

I took off after him, and went with blind obedience.

We set a good pace, not going fast enough to exhaust but keeping a speed that let the wind blow through my hair in the breeze.

We rode past beautiful landscapes of flowers and hills and bodies of water and eventually ended at a gorgeous meadow, the one from the picture message, I assumed, only in the daylight. It was fantastically breathtaking - a wide open airy space with gorgeous light shining on it from above -- it was like nowhere else in the area.

He dropped his bike and I followed suit.

"So?" My curiosity was definitely getting ahead of me.

"Patience.", was Edwards reply.

He opened the backpack and pulled out a light, woven cotton blanket and proceeded to lay it out on the grass.

"Take a seat" he gestured to his work.

"Picnic?" I questioned.

He smiled deviously as he proceeded to take two silver wrapped sandwiches and two bottles of pink lemonade from his backpack.

"Picnic." I confirmed, "so what are we dining on kind sir?"

"Well my lady," he played, "we have delicious PB&J on white bread - trimmed crusts included --- courtesy of yours truly" he smiled and winked before continuing, "and of course Minute Maid's finest - pink lemonade."

"Well, thank you -- I don't know if I can handle such fine cuisine."

We started in on the sandwiches as we caught up on what we'd been up to since Thursday evening when he had arranged for this little shin dig.

"Ok - now I have something to give to you" he interjected a few moments later, "it isn't much but I think you'll like it -- I tried really hard and it took a lot of time but -" he pulled out a woven braided bracelet like the one I tried to teach him to make when we were babysitting. "Do you like it?"

I was shocked. "Edward! I love it -- it's beautiful."

"No it's not --- it's woven string….."

"No knocking my gift! If I say it's beautiful, it's beautiful. And you used some of my favorite colors!!"

It was an array of yellows, blues, reds and pinks.

"How'd you learn?" I continued.

He smiled and looked away bashfully and he bit his lip nervously before he continued, "I had Alice teach me……and I've sort of been practicing - or well working on it - every night since….I only finished it yesterday." He had on a tremendous grin that showed he was clearly pleased with himself while still embarrassed of the fact he had to ask his sister for help making a child's craft.

"Well thankyou. I love it. Really." I looked into his eyes and smiled a smile that I hoped matched his before leaning in and kissing him. He pulled me in closer and we rolled over on the grass and became a tangled mess of limbs, dirt and grass, and it was perfect.

As we slowed our pace he pulled back and asked, "do you want some dessert?"

"You mean that wasn't it?" I teased

He smirked and gave me another peck, "No we have actual food for dessert. Watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries -- My mom's friend went berry picking with her daughters and they gave us a bunch of the fresh fruit they got -- and then who doesn't love watermelon?"

"Some of everything please!"

We divulged into the delicious fruit while lounging in an oh so comfortable position: him on his back with my head resting on his stomach.

As we finished I had an idea - "Wanna play a game?" I inquired

He raised an eyebrow, "What type of game?"

I smiled and gave him a wicked look with my eyes, "Hide and seek?"

He rolled his head back and laughter and said, "fine - you're on."

I gave a triumphant look as I stood and started to run away shouting, "You count - I'll go hide!!"

I found my way into a huge pine tree and climbed up to the middle section using the wise, sturdy branches for support.

A few moments later I saw him creeping below, hunting, like a wolf, for me, his prey. I kind of wanted him to find me so I gave him a hint, giggling to reveal the whereabouts of my location.

He knew - he saw me…he started climbing.

"You had to pick a pine tree." He moaned as he got poked by the needles.

"We live in Washington, what other type of tree would you have liked me to pick?"

He got a twinkle to his eye as he changed the topic, "So what's my reward for finding you?"

I met his gaze shyly before saying, "I could think of a few things." I bit my lip, not knowing how to handle my own forwardness, before impulse took over and I leaned in and kissed him.

We played our usual routine of hands tangled in hair and not pausing for air but then the game changed completely when I felt his wet tongue against my warm lips.

This was new territory but I parted my lips and allowed him entry, trusting that he wouldn't take me down this road if it weren't right. It was awkward at first, I couldn't settle into a rhythm and I had no idea what I was doing but it wasn't too long until I let him take control and did fall into the rhythm and it was actually beautiful. The two of us being the most intimate we've ever been, just letting ourselves go and being in the moment.

We were still enjoying our new blissful perfection when I felt the first drop, and then he felt another and soon the sky had opened up blessing us with sprinkles of rain, glittering against the shining, radiant sun.

We parted as it hit us, "It's a sun shower!" I smiled in child like bewilderment.

We climbed down the slippery branches of the great tree and as Edward went to head for some shelter I spun 'round and around in wonderment taking in the beauty and loving the moment.

I ran at Edward and took him to the ground and we rolled with the momentum until I was laying atop him my hand grazing his chest and he placed his hand tenderly on my cheek. As we kissed the rain stopped just as abruptly as it had started and we decided it might be time to head home and clean up.

We were on the bikes and heading for the main road when I heard the dinging chime of the ice cream man and demanded that we stay for a frozen delight.

I got a chipwich and he got creamsicle, we looked for a place to sit but couldn't find one until we saw a set of swings off in the distance near the more park-y part of the lot and we headed in their direction.

As the sun gleamed off the watery residue prisms of color were reflected off every surface and a rainbow formed in the sky.

We pumped our legs side by side and ate up our treats as they began to melt from the Earth's warmth.

As the ground dried and a butterfly brushed past us we discussed our upcoming plan to ambush Alice and Jasper. We were taking Alice and Jasper with us to a drive in movie and we were hoping it would help ignite the spark they were missing.

"So you've got Jasper taken care of?"I inquired.

"Yep - we're going to play soccer with the guys that afternoon and then he thinks it's just going to be like a group trip"

"Perfect!"I replied, "And I think Alice might be on to us, but that's not really bad --- we're going to go into town and get a late lunch and come back to your house just in time to make it into the car as we drive off just the four of us."

"Sounds like a plan." Edward gave the standard 'man comment'.

"So what's your take on all of this???" I questioned him, he never revealed his opinion really when I brought the topic up.

"Well….she's my sister. And he's my best friend" he started.

I scrunched my face - thinking I knew the dilemma he was about to describe but then he continued, "but I think they actually might be good for each other in some twisted way…"

I smiled, "really? Like how?"

He shook his head and laughed, "I can't believe I'm doing this -- I feel so girly - but, it's like he's really grounded, like he can't let go and just have fun a lot of times and she's so whimsically out there free - when she's not swamped with school work that is --- and I think they might balance each other out" he finished.

I was impressed at his analysis, "Wow -- that's really nice --- I just have been kind of observing them when we're all together as a group and they have a definite palpable chemistry between them - like they belong together…" I trailed off and looked off into the distance as I bit my lip thinking I'd inferred too much about my own feelings.

I did - his next question was: "do you feel that with us?" he was smiling and had a mysterious, pensive look gracing his face.

I turned and looked him right in the eye as I nodded fiercely, "Yeah. Yeah, I do." I paused and looked at him shyly, "do you feel anything like that?"

He slowly nodded, "I'm not sure I've ever felt what I feel for you ever before. So, yeah" he grinned, "I'd say I feel something like that."

We just sat for a moment looking at each other and then suddenly he was slowly pulling the chains of my swing towards him, I giggled in surprise and helped speed the process by walking myself closer to him as well. He twisted his arm around the chain and I dug my feet into the ground, as to keep me from flying away and then after a moment we slowly leaned into each other and gently kissed, very chastely - very sweetly and then as we pulled apart he put his arms around me and pulled me into his chest before kissing my forehead.

The sun was painting it's mural of pinks and oranges and purples when Edward finally let me spin away and we began our walk back to the bikes.

We still had a fair distance to go, as we continued with our arms around each other through the dewy grass, when Edward spoke, "Oh - hey - um, I forgot to mention but next week an old friend of my family's from Turks is coming to stay with us."

"Oh that's so nice! Do they have any kids?"

Edward laughed, "God I hope not --- she's 19."

"She?"I stopped dead in my tracks - I was shocked. Was this a former girl friend??? How close were they? Should I be worried??

Edward smiled, knowing this was going to be my reaction, and pulled me in closer"Yes. Her name's Tanya --- she was one of my best friends back on the island --- and before you ask - yeah, we did date - but only briefly --- I'm talking like 2 weeks, we were friends and thought it was a natural progression but it was way too weird and so we just went back to being friends. So get that worried look off your face." He smiled that special smile that always pulled at my heart strings and made my tensions melt with the ease of warm caramel.

Edward continued before I could interrupt, "I want you guys to be friends! I have this feeling you're going to hit it off right away - but that'll only happen if you give her a chance, so I don't want that weird inherent girl part of your brain to kick in and make you go like psycho jealous for no reason." I went to interrupt, in outrage, but he held a finger to my lips, "I know that was sort of rude but you know it could've happen if I didn't give you fair warning. [he was right. I didn't argue] So please give her a chance?" He finally let me speak.

"Ok. I'll try…." I bit my lip in paranoid fear thinking through all the worst possible case scenarios as Edward happily placed a kiss on my forehead.

After a few beats of silence had passed and we were walking again I spoke up, "I have one condition."

He smiled and shook his head finding humor in it all somehow, "And what would that be?"

"You have to spend all day Sunday with me - and just me --- since I won't have you to myself while she's here."

He threw his head back with a laugh before leaning into my ear in a hug and saying, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

He kissed me again as we paused to admire the sun as it was starting to get ready for bed, we then proceeded to re-mount our bikes and took off to my house.

It was a quick ride, he definitely took a long route on the way there, and soon enough he was helping me put the bike back in my garage.

"Thanks for today Edward - I had a really, really nice time….and I love my bracelet -- I'm never going to take it off."

"Yeah ok…"he played.

"I mean it!" I smiled with a glint of humor to my expression as I bit my lip not knowing what would come next.

"Well I'm glad you had fun -- I had a blast too." He smiled his signature smile and as the sun highlighted the golden rays in his hair and created the perfect story book image in my mind he leaned in and kissed me goodbye.

It had been a perfect day and I couldn't wait until our sneak attack double date the next night.

The morning went by in a blur, punctuated only by taking a shower, getting dressed and eating an English muffin with butter and grape jelly. The rest just sort of blended together, that was until I went to check my facebook and got a bumper sticker from Edward!

It read: "sometimes you just need to be with the person who makes you smile even if it means waiting"

And it was accompanied by the message: "I can't wait to see you tonight beautiful 3"

I basically became a pile of mush. But not wanting to let on that his butterscotch hair and caramel smile were melting my ice cream frozen heart I sent him a picture message of me sticking my tongue out with the message "you are SOOO cheesy!!! But I kinda sorta adore it 3"

It was after that I changed into my American eagle jeans and one of my oldest, favorite t-shirts that was pale blue with a yellow bird on it and green block writing that said "Some birdy loves you."

I was in such a light, good, summery mood that I cranked up my radios volume and was dancing around my room to "Girl put your records on" as I kicked on a pair of flip flops, fixed my hair into a perfectly messy bun, put on just a light touch of makeup and grabbed a sweater for that night when we were at the movie. I was dancing around my room, the breeze circulating through my air, causing it to flow in various directions when my phone buzzed announcing the fact that Alice was downstairs, ready for our lunch date. It was about 3pm and I rushed down to meet her.

Soon, we headed off down the road. We ate at the new café that my dad and I had tried earlier and enjoyed deliciously fresh homemade pink lemonade as well as our meals. I got a turkey sandwich with sundried tomatoes, mayo, and basil on a toasted baguette and Alice got a chicken Caesar salad that looked like it was appetizing enough for the gods.

I filled her in on the details of Edward and I's picnic date and she ooed and awed like she was watching some teen romance movie - was my life really that interesting? When I told her about the bracelet she broke out in laughter, "Oh god - you better treasure that thing because I teased him mercilessly to no end on that one --- like who doesn't know how to make those?"

I smiled smally and quietly said, "Apparently he didn't" I played with the strands I loved that were snugly wrapped on my wrist.

"Wow." Alice looked at me in awe.

"What?"I didn't know where she was headed with her comment.

"You love him." She stated, not a question.

"What?" I was so confused.

"Bella - you should see yourself --- you're grinning like a fool, your eyes are shining like there's no tomorrow and you totally just jumped to Edward's defense because I joked about his bracelet making ability. I can't believe this!" Alice was exclaiming excitedly, I was glad we were outside so she wouldn't disturb the patrons in the quiet indoor dining room.

"Alice, you need to calm down --- yeah, I care about him -- but it hasn't even been a month…."

"And?" Now Alice looked confused.

"sooo - that's really quick -- way too soon…." I trailed off already contradicting myself with my thoughts --- did I love Edward, I mean I thought it but I thought that was because I had nothing to compare the feelings to --- but if other people saw it - maybe?? Nooo -- it couldn't.

"Bella - since when does love have a time frame?" Alice posed the question and left me very confused.

"Alice, I don't know --- what I do know though is if we don't rush it up we're going to miss our ride."

We paid the bill and hurried our way off to the Cullens home. Edward and Jasper were already outside when we arrived.

I ran over to Edward and apologized for running late as I leaned in to kiss him, I felt him smile on my lips as he shook his head and pulled away saying, "Not ok - you're definitely going to have to make up for it."

We both smiled and remembered our friends, "well looks like we're all ready to go -- we should get on the road or we're going to miss the beginning of the movie."

Jasper didn't budge, "Aren't Rosalie and Emmett or anyone else coming?" he asked confused.

"Eveyone's busy man - you heard the guys at the game -- and Emmet and Rosalie are back in NY…….get in the car dude or I'm going to have to kick your ass." Jasper finally got in the car.

We were off on the road, quietly listening to the radio, Edward and I holding hands the whole way, sometimes singing along to the music until we reached our destination.

We found a great spot that would give us a terrific view of the screen and then Alice and I went to buy popcorn.

Alice looked distraught, "is it just me or does he seem like he doesn't want to be here?"

"No -- I think he's just confused because he thought it was going to be like a group thing --- but come on, you taught me everything I know -- just make him forget the plan --- flirt!!!"

Alice let out a deep sigh as she stepped ahead in the line, "Hi - I'll just have one small --"

I interrupted her, "Get a medium. You can share then…" I winked at her and she smiled.

"Sorry make that one medium," she changed her order, "popcorn and ummm let's try a sweet tea I guess." She paid and stepped to the side as I ordered Edward and I's popcorn and a box of snow caps with two bottles of water.

"The student has definitely surpassed the master." Alice quietly said to me as we headed back to the car and our boys.

Edward had already set up our blanket - the one from our picnic and another one of similar quality and had his radio cranked and tuned to the appropriate station so we'd be ready when the movie started.

Edward and Jasper were already sitting down, and were discussing something rather excitedly.

"Whatcha guys talking about?" I asked in a sing-song voice as I sat down and settled myself next to Edward on one of the blankets.

Alice sat a little to my left, which happened to be to the right of Jasper, and the 4 of us formed a little circle.

Alice had a suspicious look as she peered at Edward and it made me curious, however it was all cleared up very shortly.

"You didn't?!" realization dawned on Alice. (What was up?!?!)

"I might've…" Edward looked guilty.

"Ok someone better spill about what's going on because I'm about to go insane!" I finally let out.

Edward smiled and let his head hang back with laughter, allowing the setting sun to shine light on him forming perfect glowing rays off of his coppery gold auburn hair and delicate silhouettes where his chin made a shadow on his neck.

"Well," he finally spoke, "Alice and I had this secret we wanted to reveal to you guys at the same time but I couldn't keep it any longer and told Jasper."

I was exasperated, "What's the secret."

Edward chuckled, knowing he was riding on my nerves, "Well ---- Alice do you want to tell her - since I told Jasper?"

"Oh my god fine just someone spit it out" I couldn't take it anymore.

Alice spoke up, "We're taking a trip -- to the shore…"

"Aw -- that's nice…" I didn't know what was so exciting about that -- and why did she call it the shore? We always called it the beach.

"The Jersey Shore."

Ok there it was - "What?!?!" I was laughing -- "When?? Eh - and what am I going to do while you guys are on the East coast??"

Edward took over explaining -- "Well - Bella, we're going next week for four days - while Tanya's here --- and as long as you're not busy - you're coming too."

AHHHH -- excitement overwhelmed me, "What?!?!"

Alice took back over, "Well - Emmett got a promotion at work and so to celebrate, he and Rosalie are taking a vacation for the first time since they graduated --- and then they talked to mom and dad and well they decided it would be fun for all of us to go --- so as an early Christmas gift they're flying me and Edward and Tanya out there and they said we could take 2 guests if we could agree on the two, and ocourse that wasn't hard." Alice laughed nervously thinking she might have revealed something about her Jasper crush with that sentence, despite him not even paying attention.

"Oh my god!!! Wow! Ohmygod!"

"So you'll think it over" Edward teased.

I leaned into him then and kissed him, "I'm so excited!"

"Good" he said as he pulled me back in and kissed me again.

"Eww -- P.D.A plus brother equals groosssss" Alice let out.

I pulled away, "Sorry Alice…" Edward groaned as I conceded to his sister.

There was a little time left until the movie, so Edward made a trip to the rest room while Alice, Jasper and I discussed the week ahead.

"So they rented a house in Wildwood, NJ -- it's supposed to be really nice, like classy but still beachy fun," Alice laughed, "unfortunately we won't have any time to stay in the city though, they're going to pick us up from the airport and we're going to head straight down."

"It sounds like it's going to be a blast" I showed my excitement. "and Carlisle and Esme don't want to come?"

Alice shook her head, "I mean - I'm sure they want to but they thought it might be fun for us 'kids' to have some fun all on our own now that we're getting older."

I nodded, "that's nice…"

My mind wandered through all the possibilities the trip could bring but I I was pulled back to reality when I felt two firm hands on my shoulders as Edward spun me around to face him. He was crouched on the ground and holding a fuzzy white dandelion weed.

"I got you a flower!" He said like a child, playing and laughing at himself.

I was grinning ear to ear and could feel Alice's gaze on me as I said, "Thanks!!!" as if I were actually dealing with a child, and then as if we had planned it ahead of time we both leaned in and blew its fluffy cotton top, causing it to fly all over the surrounding area.

When we realized we had had the same thought we both burst into giggles, he pulled me in close and we kissed in a playful, child like way that seemed innocent and yet more intimate than ever, still laughing as we did so. I was waiting to be berated by Alice to stop but it never came - apparently she and Jasper were deep into a conversation about a band Jasper had back at school and were making a contest out of throwing popcorn into each other's mouths- but soon, we felt it -- we were being pelted by pieces of popcorn. We pulled apart and gave the two of them looks that could kill.

Alice piped up then, "It's a good thing you made me get the bigger size, Bella; I'd be out of popcorn by now with how long it took you guys to stop if I'd gotten the small."

Bella let out a laugh; she and Edward shared a look and the two of them began pelting popcorn at Alice and Jasper who were attempting to catch it all with their mouths, Bella and Edward did the same and soon we were all out of the concession stand favorite.

It was then that the last bits of daylight were fading to a hazy grey and the movie was beginning. I settled against Edward and he wrapped his arms around me. The fireflies began to dance their glittery number around the trees and the stars and the flickering image of the film came up and illuminated the screen as it began.

We had picked an older film, because a) it was cheaper than the screenings of the new ones and b) we wanted to be able to just hang out and not get caught up in a high flash summer blockbuster.

Tonight they were showing Casablanca, an old Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman flick - of course Edward had picked it.

Edward was placing the last of our snowcaps in my mouth when I noticed that Alice and Jasper weren't watching the movie at all but were in a world of their own kissing up a storm and whispering to each other in the darkness.

I looked up into Edward's eyes with a smirk on my lips and said, "mission accomplished."

We kissed and then heard the low tune of the signature "As Time Goes By" emanating from the images on the screen.

Edward leaned in very close to me, bypassing my mouth and pressing his lips against the skin near my ear and whispered breathily in a very low tone, "dance with me."

I pulled back to meet his gaze, intense and focused, and nodded my agreement.

He pulled me up and held me close as we rocked and swayed to the charming melody and simplistic lyrics. The piano rocking us both back to a time when "moonlight and love songs were never out of date", I leaned my head on his shoulder and we moved in slow circles, gently moving in time to the rhythm.

As the song began to trail off and Elsa and Rick were remembering the invasion of France, I looked up to meet the loving gaze of Edward and we kissed as we continued our dance until the last chords of the song had dissipated into the balmy air of the summer night.

He spun me and we sat back down, settling back into our position only now our eyes were glued to each other and there was a physical sense to the things we were feeling that could be felt in the atmosphere.

Soon it was time to head home and no one seemed to want to part ways but it had to happen. Edward drove to my house first dropping off me and Alice who was sleeping over, before heading back to his house for a guys night with Jasper.

He of course got out of the car and we kissed and said our goodbye, planning to meet up the next day for my "condition" of having to spend the entire day together just the two of us.

We didn't make too much of a spectacle of ourselves since both Alice and Jasper were present, whom had parted with a hug and a small kiss - not sure how to deal with their new circumstances.

Edward got back in his car and as soon as he and Jasper were a few feet away Alice let out a squeal that probably woke up people 2 counties over.

I ran over to her and gave her a huge hug, quieting her at the same time and led her into the house.

"Do you think if I scream again I'll wake Charlie?" pondered Alice.

"Well he's actually not home -" I was cut off by a high-pitched, high decibel squeal from Alice, I ran to her and clapped my hand over her mouth, "but that doesn't mean you can make noises so loud only dogs can hear." I finished.

I set about making some hot tea and pulled a tub of cookie dough from the freezer, "A girl after my own heart," interjected Alice.

After grabbing two spoons and fixing the tea in mugs we headed up to my room where we got comfortable and began to discuss the evening as we dove into the frozen confection.

"So you and Jasper!?!"

Alice looked totally bashful at the comment and let out a low squeal, "yesss!!!"

She looked up and was so happy she looked like she might burst! "Bella - thank you soo much!!!"

"It was nothing."

"No really -- we were bound to just be friends who may or may not hook up from time to time but you made it so we could actually talk and we actually hit it off --- we don't have much in common but he's really interesting and I think he's into me too! I don't know what would have happened if you and Edward hadn't gone crazy over on your blanket, but it gave us something to bond over and it got us talking and well you saw what happened..."she paused for a second and looked away bashfully before continuing, "he asked me out for Monday."

"Oh my god! Alice!!! That's soo great!! I'm really really happy for you!"I was elated for my friend who had helped me with the very same problems.

"Well again - if it wasn't for you…"

I cut her off "and if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be with Edward. So we're even now."

Alice smiled, "Yeahhh - about you and Edward? - What wassss that tonight!?!"

"What do you mean?" I shook my head and asked with a smile, knowing what she was heading for.

"Just because I was a little preoccupied does not mean I didn't see you and my brother acting as if you had just stepped out of - well - out of the movie." Alice's eyes were shining with her want for details and I just so happened to be in the mood to share them.

"Oh my god Alice it was amazing!!!! - Like, he just asked me and it was this very intense sort of chemistry and like course of events I guess…it was beyond perfect. Like words can't even explain how tonight made me feel…"I trailed off and looked away as I felt a red blush travel up my neck into my face.

"You're so head over heels for him you can't even see it." Alice stated.

"No - I see it…I see it crystal clear….I just don't know if I'm there yet, ya know?" I reasoned.

"No -- I have no idea what you mean --- but that's ok." Alice smiled and as we continued to discuss the evening I wondered what Edward was up to with Jasper.

Edward's POV

"Dude -- you and Bella --- what was that?!?" Jasper was in a state of shock from the passing of tonight's events.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked in fake exasperation, knowing his friend was probably confused by his behavior.

"Ya know -- you acting like the Casanova or whatever…what's up with that??"

"It's her -- she - oh god you're gonna think I sound like a pussy…but - she makes me want to do stuff like that. There's something about her that just - lights a spark in me and I can't fight it…."

Jasper raised his eyebrows in shock and awe, "Woh ---so - do you love her?"

Edward leaned his head back and shook it back and forth as he said, "I don't know man --- I mean I care about her, I don't want to be without her…."he paused before very quietly adding, "I could see us spending the rest of our lives together."

That made Jasper feel electricity shoot throughout his body, "Oh god -- dude --- you totally love her! Man…." He was shaking his head in disbelief.

Edward looked hard at his friend, "Just because I feel all that doesn't mean its love. And besides its just way too soon….."

"Well - I guess I'm not one to talk, man, but if I were you and I had a girl who looked at me like she looks at you and I felt the way you do about her, I wouldn't need no damn time frame, fuck it - ya know?"

"Well thank you for that eloquent advice." Edward teased.

"I'm just saying…"Jasper tried but was cut off by Edward, "I know, I know…..ehh I just need to think about it…"

There was a slight pause and then Edward put it out there, "So - your turn -- you and my sister?"

Jasper sort of laughed to himself and then said, "yeahhhh…."

"You're a man of many words. Come one - what's goin on there?"

"I've always liked her…you know that…"

"So what made you finally make a move?"

"Well -- ya know we always kinda --"

"Skip the prelude, she's my sister…"

"Ok - well - I thought that's all we'd every reach so I sort of gave up trying to be actual friends, talking about interests and stuff -- but then tonight she started asking me about school and stuff while you and Bella were like off on another planet, and we had a really good time and really got to know each other and well I asked her to go out with me on Monday and she said yes!" Jasper rambled it all like a monologue not stopping for anything.

"Wow - cool dude --- where are you taking her?"

"To hear my band! We're doing a small gig up by one of the guys…and then I'd figure we'd go get some dinner just the two of us."

Edward sighed, "She'll love that……just remember - you hurt her and I'll kill you."

"Dude…really you're playing the brother card after I just poured my heart out to you like we were on Oprah's couch?"

"Yeah dude - I am."

"Well no worries, I don't intend on ever doing anything to hurt Alice."

"That's what I like to hear." There was quiet for a second and then Edward continued, "Ok - why don't we stop acting like chicks and hit the sack."

"Sounds like a plan."

And with that the night ended leaving the future wide open for them all.

**So what did you think?!?! Make sure to review!!!**

**Now some business: **

**-They are not going to the Jersey Shore b/c of the show….ew. No, I'm from Jersey and Wildwood is actually where me and my family vacation every summer.**

**-There is a collage on my profile that I sort of made to illustrate what I was going for with this story and I use it for inspiration a lot so I thought you all might like to see it.**

**That's all for now! Go review!!!! **


	12. I May Never Come Down to Earth Again

**Hey everyone! I'm really excited about this chapter -- so I won't bore you with a long author's note up here….It is the longest chapter yet…**

**DISCLAIMER: Not mine, just borrowed -- including the songs and quotes from books that are included…**

It was Sunday. Edward and I's last day alone together before the arrival of Tanya. I still didn't know how I felt about her, but the prospect of spending 4 days at the beach with Edward helped soften the blow.

But back to today - we were going to renovate our tree house and spend the entire day together from 11 am to 11pm. Alice had left around 10, giving me just enough time to shower and throw on a messy t-shirt and some cut off jean shorts.

Edward arrived right on time, carrying what seemed like a worlds worth of bags.

"Edward, I know we said we were going to put some of our belongings in the tree house but that didn't mean you could move your every earthly possession in…" I laughed at the sight of him, "What is all this?"

He leaned in and kissed me a longing hello as he finished crossing the stretch of lawn that lay between his car and my front porch before proceeding to wave a brown paper bag that was in one of his hands.

"I figured since Alice got home only a few minutes before I left that you probably didn't have time to eat breakfast, am I right?" Edward smiled

I bit my lip, loving the considerateness of my boyfriend and nodded slowly, my eyes glittering thanks and adoration.

"Well, I figured as much so I stopped and got us bagels -- your still a cream cheese girl right?"

I nodded.

"Cinnamon raisin bagel?"

I smiled -- "You still remember my favorite child hood breakfast?"

He smiled bashfully, "Yeahhhh --- you'd be surprised at what I remember…."

He looked into my eyes and we kissed again, it wanted to go on forever but Charlie was home so I forced myself to pull back and simply said, "Thank you."

He leaned his forehead against mine and said, "Your welcome."

I led the way up the steps to the tree house as I tried to determine what the rest of the bags were, "Okay, so I've discovered what one of the bags is but what are all the others??"

Edward shook his head and said, "Fine -- I was going to surprise you as went along but we can do a little inventory." He placed his bags on the floor of the tree house.

"We've got posters, picture frames for filling courtesy of Esme, snacks and beverages, a mini fridge, some pillows and blankets Alice was going to get rid of, some books for our book shelf, an aerobed courtesy of Emmett - I think he had different plans for it but it could be nice to sit on if we get tired of beanbag chairs….and um - well -- my guitar" as he listed he gestured to the different bags. When he finished with that one particular item he looked at me bashfully and shrugged.

"I want to hear something right now." I demanded as a smile spread across my lips.

He rolled his eyes and wrapped me in his arms pulling me to the ground, we rolled on the floor and finally he was propped on his elbows, hovering over me and he said, "You really want to?"

I pushed him off playfully and said, "Duh! Now go get it…" I was elated.

He took it out of its case and checked to its tune as I began eating my bagel, and then he started strumming out the notes to a song I didn't really recognize. I was listening and loving it but it tripled in specialness when he began to sing

_My old friend, I apologize  
For the years that have passed  
Since the last time you and I  
Dusted off those memories  
But the running and the races  
The people and the places  
There's always somewhere else I had to be  
Time gets slim, my old friend_

He was so into the music and the moment and yet his eyes never left mine and I felt a connection between us like I had never felt before.

_Don't know why, don't know why  
Don't know why, don't know why_

He had picked the perfect song, "My Old Friend" by Tim McGraw - I recognized it once he got a little further in. He was playing beautifully and his voice wasn't bad either, somehow the intensity of the moment made me adore him even more, if that was possible, and I couldn't help but bite my lip and wonder back on the discussion with Alice on if this was love or just something that was pretty damn close….

_My old friend, this song's for you  
Cause a few simple verses  
Was the least that I could do  
To tell the world that you were here  
Cause the love and the laughter  
Will live on long after  
All of the sadness and the tears  
We'll meet again, my old friend_

I'm pretty sure I had a tear in my eye by the time he was winding down that last verse and when he finished he looked at me with a small smile and asked, "So what'd you think?"

My eyes flew open and I smiled trying to convey every inkling of feeling I possessed in my being before I lunged forward and surrounded him with my body in the biggest hug I knew to give.

"So it was ok?" Edward played with a smirk playing on his face.

I played right back, shrugging and saying - "It was alright…"

We both smiled a laugh and kissed ourselves into oblivion before we decided to get down to business.

We quickly finished eating and then set about dusting and spraying and wiping the room into sanitation. We hung up the posters Edward had brought, leaving up our childhood artwork and found places for the frames to go which we hopefully would soon fill with pictures of us now, though we did fill one with a picture of us from childhood where we were "hiding" on the bed in the guestroom at Edward's house. We set up the fridge and Edward found some clever, complicated way to rig it so we actually could get electricity into it from the garage. We found places to store the snacks and the beverages and threw the un-inflated aerobed into the corner we put the blanket on a shelf and piled the pillows on top of the aerobed. We then set about dealing with the bookcase which still contained a few of our childhood favorites; we found Goosebumps and Baby Sitters Club and even an old Harry Potter, we found "Where the Red Fern Grows" and "Captain Underpants" and then we found it -- my childhood favorite -- "Tuck Everlasting".

"Oh my gosh --- I forgot all about this book!" I sung upon my discovery.

Edward smiled, "How could you have forgotten -- you used to make me run around the yard pretending that I was Jesse and you were Winnie and that the base of this tree had a spring that made us never die…"

I stuck my tongue out at him, "Don't be bitter - you obviously enjoyed it or you wouldn't remember."

"Did I complain?? -- No. I didn't" Edward said with a laugh in his eye and a smile on his words.

I looked at him curiously and asked, "how do you remember that?"

He looked me right in the eye and took my breath away as he seriously said, "Because it's one of my favorite memories."

He leaned in and we kissed, sharing the intimate secrets of our emotions.

By the time the small house was cleaned it was about 4 in the afternoon and we were both famished.

I pulled myself in close to him and said, "What do you say we go to the grocery store - we can pick up a few things and" I paused slightly to peak his interest and give dramatic effect, "I could make us dinner? Charlie's going down by Billy Blacks for a poker tournament -- it would be just me and you."

I could see the excitement light up in Edward's eyes but being the gentleman he is he said, "You don't have to do that -- we could just order something if you--"

I cut him off, "No. I want to…I wanna cook for you." I smiled my enthusiasm.

Edward leaned in closer and said, "Well then, as you wish" and kissed me before we both descended the ladder and headed to his car.

We made the quick drive to the grocery store and got into quite the debate of whether TJ and Spinelli would have ever gotten together on Recess if the show had followed them to highschool. I was of the belief that Spinelli was just way too cool for that but he thought they would…true to personality.

I had decided I was going to make grilled chicken with an herb crust my mom had taught me with sautéed mushrooms and these delicious dinner rolls the guy at our local groceries bakery.

We bought what we needed and a piece of chocolate cake for dessert and headed home.

Edward's POV

As we drove the short distance back to her house I couldn't help but thing how lucky I was. At the beginning of this summer I had never thought it would turn out half as good as it has.

The sun was gleaming it's dance of oranges and pinks that always seemed to perform in the later hours of the summer day, a little before the sun began to set. We had the windows down and the wind was blowing her hair in a heavenly splendor that highlighted her collar bone and the frame of her face and her laughter.

Once we arrived back to her house she set about preparing our dinner, I offered to help but she told me there wasn't much to do and to just sit down. So I sat at the kitchen table and watched her work as she prepared the chicken and let it set and then began on slicing the mushrooms.

As I sat I had to think to myself just how sexy it was that she was cooking for us, I didn't know what it was about it but I definitely added it to my ever growing list of favorite things about her.

She had put her hair up in a messy bun atop her head, revealing her entire neck, making me breathless. She made her way around the kitchen with grace and charm, sometimes chatting with sometimes falling into deep concentration which was just way too adorable for words.

She asked me if I could make a pitcher of iced tea , and I was grateful to contribute something, so I set about my task as I finished adding ice to the pitcher of Crystal Light instant tea I snuck a glance back at her as she was tending to the mushrooms she had added into the skillet.

I couldn't resist and so I quietly made my way over to her and wrapped my arms around her pulling her close to me and kissed her from her mouth to her jaw and all the way down her neck when she broke the connection, giggling and said, "Now how am I supposed to make us a delicious meal if you start distracting me like that." She was smiling all over and her skin had began to show evidence of a pink blush that was working its way up from her soul, which I loved, still she meant business; so with her still in my arms I moved my head from her shoulder and leaned atop hers.

"It smells amazing" I let out in a sigh

She looked up over her shoulder at me and said, "Here - taste it --- what do you think?"

She held a spoon to my mouth like a mother to a child and I blew on it, but in a way that would push away any doubts that that was not the relationship we had and then took it in.

"It's amazing." I burst out, and it was true. "Sweetie - you're a great cook."

"Well thanks!"She answered proudly, "Now, if you want the chicken to be just as good you're going to have to let go of me"

I reluctantly released her and as I was headed back to my seat at the table she bit her lip and whispered, "I have an idea."

I looked at her intrigued as she continued, "There's an open bottle of white wine in that cabinet over there -- why don't you grab it and two wine glasses and I'll meet you in the tree house." She had spoken quietly and I almost couldn't believe my ears.

"Are you sure?" I questioned her.

"Yeah -- Charlie definitely won't notice, I'm pretty sure it was a gift that he had only opened to be polite…and a little can't hurt and this is adult time." She said all at once in a rush that was in a tone of hushed urgency that made her sound incredibly sexy and so I followed my orders and was headed out the door when she called, "Oh and bring the rolls up too! Thank you!"

I smiled to myself, grabbed the bag with the rolls and grabbed a few surprises of my own and headed up into the tree house.

She followed soon after, wafting smells of amazingness as she neared and her eyes lit up when she saw my surprise.

Bella's POV

I placed the chicken and mushrooms on a large dish I found in the cabinet and grabbed a serving spoon, threw 2 plastic clear plates, forks and knives some napkins and the box of cake in a bag and headed up into the tree house. Upon entering I was completely swept away by the sight I was met with.

Edward had laid out a tablecloth on the floor and set up 2 candles and lit them, he had also taken the liberty of pouring us our wine.

"Candles?" I said in a way that wasn't really a question but kind of was.

"I thought they'd be a nice touch."

I bit my lip as he continued to thrill me and said, "It's perfect."

I put the food down on the spread he had laid out and crossed to kiss him.

We sat and ate our delicious meal, enjoying the silence that surrounded us and the low, easy conversation it allowed us to register.

He was telling me about a time he and Tanya had put on a show for some of the local kids back in Turks and how the kids couldn't figure out how the music was so loud since they didn't really have speakers or anything like that in their homes. He was so animated and alive when he spoke about his memories from there and I realized most of those memories were attached to Tanya and that's when I decided I would get over my weird girlfriend psyche, do s Edward had asked, and give her a real, true, honest to goodness chance.

As he finished the story we fell into a quiet and I said, "Shame we don't have some music" hinting that if we did we could dance.

Edward's eyes lit up, "Oh but we do…" he trailed off and got up, when he walked back over he was holding the old radio boom box from the other day, "will this do?"

He turned it on and tried to tune it to a station we knew but it would only play on the one station from the other day, "hmmm" he said, frustrated, "I guess we could hook up an I-Pod to it…"

I smiled at him and said, "No - I don't think we have to do that -- it's kind of cool only having this one weird station…" we laughed as I continued, "like we're in our own little world up here."

As I finished my statement an old Frank Sinatra hit filled the room,

_Some day, when I'm awfully low,  
When the world is cold,  
I will feel a glow just thinking of you...  
And the way you look tonight._

"May I have this dance?" Edward asked as he playfully bowed as if from yesteryear.

"Certainly" I courtseyed in response.

_Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm  
And your cheeks so soft,  
There is nothing for me but to love you,  
And the way you look tonight._

We swayed around the room and I felt as if we were part of the stars and the sky soaring through time and space free orbiting the world in a way that was out of body and yet so connected my body it almost hurt.

_With each word your tenderness grows,  
Tearing my fear apart...  
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,  
It touches my foolish heart._

He turned me and twirled me and pulled me into him spinning and we were off on cloud nine, moving as if we were Fred and Ginger, laughing as if we were Lucy and Ricky…

_Lovely ... Never, ever change.  
Keep that breathless charm.  
Won't you please arrange it ?  
'Cause I love you ... Just the way you look tonight_

As the song came to a close we fell into a slow rocking rhythm and held each other incredibly close, my head leaning on his shoulder and his forehead leaning against mine.

_Mm, Mm, Mm, Mm,  
Just the way you look to-night._

The song ended and we just stood in place like that for a few moments before we broke our silence.

I quietly said, "I had a really nice time tonight Edward." And bit my lip, knowing there was so much more then that I wanted to say to him.

I felt him move as he adjusted his jaw, the way people do when they don't want to give away too much before speaking, and he said, "Bella, you're one of the most amazing people I've ever known -- I -" he cut himself off then and changed his sentence completely saying, "You're so beautiful…" he trailed off and though it was a nice moment there was so much surging under the surface that it held a tension to it.

We pulled away and looked into each other's eyes, somehow trying to convey all the things we weren't saying but neither of us spoke.

The song had changed to something neither of us knew and so we lowered the volume and decided it might be time for the dessert we had bought.

We tried to settle onto the floor but it was wood and it was hard and it was not actually all that comfortable. We exchanged a look and we both let our eyes wander to the corner where we had stored the aerobed.

Without even needing to say it, Edward went to it and began setting it up.

By the time we had pumped all the air into it a new song was coming on the radio and I recognized it as being from one of my favorite childhood movies, Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella, "Ten Minutes Ago". It was slow and rhythmic and perfect so I turned it up just slightly as we grabbed the forks and the cake and settled onto the bed.

We both took forkfuls of the delicious chocolate confection, having gotten over the tension of the prior moment and were now talking about our upcoming trip to the beach.

"It's going to be a blast." Edward started.

"Yeah - I'm so excited…I've never been…."

"You're going to love it -- I mean, I've only gone once - when we went out to visit Rose once but it was a blast…" Edward paused for a second, "So, did you ever get over that fear you had of roller coasters?"

I laughed nervously…"No -- I actually never did……why?"

Edward smiled at my nervousness, "Well, there's a lot of rides on the boardwalk down there and quite a few of them are roller coasters…and well - if you're not over you're fear you're going to have to get over it."

"Oh yeah -- well, I don't really do roller coasters, sorry." I answered with a laugh.

Edward squinted in fake frustrated anger with a hint of a grin as he said, "Well - I could always make you?"

I shook my head like a child, "I'm not scared of you."

Edward put on a serious tone while looking into my eyes and said, "Well you should be." And I was so captivated by his eyes I never even saw it coming! - he flung cake at me!

It begun a small battle of chocolate crumbs flying through the air but it was nearing its end when I grabbed him , and straddled myself on top of him saying "You'll be sorry Cullen" and kissed him, blinding him from my victorious move -- I took a handful of icing and smudged it across his face.

"Nooo" he screamed in defeat.

"I win!" I sung like a child.

And with that he lunged at me and we were both rolling around on the bed, his chocolate covered face getting icing all over me.

When we finally ended on a ceasefire we took a look at ourselves and just laughed for what seemed like hours on end.

Once our laughter subsided I had an idea, "Here, let me help you out" and with that I leaned in and kissed the side of his mouth, his nose and his chin - licking up the icing as I went.

"Hey-hey-hey" he laughed, "Let me help you too."

And so it began, he was kissing my forehead and my cheek, my nose and eyelid," cleaning up the icing as he went.

I continued as I had been as well and then he did it, he moved to my neck and then my collarbone - causing my eyes to flutter and my head to go foggy.

When he saw my reaction he pulled back and we looked into each other's eyes - I'm sure mine seemed bewildered and uncertain, because his screamed of caution, uncertainty and the question I was begging to answer, 'should he keep going?'

I nodded slowly and he came to meet my lips with his. It quickly deepened and our tongues were battling for dominance, I conceded to him and fell into the rhythm he was setting , before long he was at it again - trailing kisses down my jaw to my neck, settling near my collar bone where had previously been and he did again. The sensation caused my head to fall back in ecstasy and I felt a way I had never felt before. My hands were roaming through his hair as I felt electric shocks flowing through my body as a result of the small sting of a bite I had felt where his mouth had been resident. He slowly pulled away and looked me in the eyes as our mouths came back together as if pulled by magnetic force. It was then that I heard the soft melody of the song I had set on my phone for when Charlie texted me. I reluctantly pulled away from Edward who was now on top of me on the aerobed, his hair going a billion different directions (I'm sure mine wasn't much better), and went to check my phone, the message said:

Heading home soon - stopping for milk, want me to pick you up anything?

Charlie was on his way home -- what time was it? I quickly checked and was astounded when I discovered it was 11:09pm. I had registered the sun had set but actual time had definitely escaped me…

"Edward, my dad's on his way home -- it's kinda late….well for us to be home alone anyway….you shouldn't be here when he gets home…"

He sighed, not wanting to leave, "I know…"I said as I made my way back over to him.

I leaned back on him and we sat that way for just a few moments, savoring the time we had left.

Edward checked his phone then, "Hey -- it's 11:11 --- make a wish."

I don't know what Edward wished for, but I wished for a million more nights like this one.

He kissed me on my cheek after making his wish and said, "Ok -- time to be a grown up --- I should get outta here or else it is not going to end well…"

"Yeah -- your right…"

He helped me gather all the dishes and candles - we left the wine in our old toy chest and reminded me I wanted to grab "Tuck Everlasting" for a nice re-read.

We headed into the kitchen, filled up the dishwasher and said our goodnights and goodbyes.

Parting with a much more chaste kiss then anything that had occurred in the tree house and then he was off into the brisk, summer night air.

I had already txt Charlie back saying I was fine but thanks and so as I waited for his arrival home I sat on the couch, flipped through the channels till I found a suitable silence drowning movie - I settled on Armageddon - and tried to start reading "Tuck Everlasting", but my thoughts kept drifting back to what had just transpired and my first instinct was to call Alice -- but Edward was her brother -- would that be weird??

Just as I heard Charlie's car roll into the driveway I remembered I had never looked in the mirror!

I flew in and took in my appearance, locking the door behind me.

Oh no. I took a glance in the mirror - my hair was a wreck and so that was the first order of business, I brushed it into order and retied it in a ponytail atop my head.

I was looking at the chocolate stains on my clothing, trying to figure out if I had time to change whne I lost all hope of that plan and heard, "Bells - I'm home --- where are ya?"

"I'm just in the bathroom dad, be out in a second…"

"Oh -- ok -- take your - eh - time…"

Charlie hated all mention of feminine hygiene and so I knew that probably quieted him…I decided I'd just tell him I had gotten really into baking -- where was the cake? It was small and I ate it all….PMS….that could work…right??

Then I saw it, and my jaw dropped and my stomach churned and m heart full out stopped --- I had a hickey on my neck!

AHHHHH!!! What was I going to do?!?! Ok - ok - ok--- stay calm.

I hunted through the cabinet and found an old foundation my mom had given me that I used to use when my blushing bothered me. I applied a nice thick coat on top of the perpetrator, but not before taking a picture of it. I then used baby powder - I was working with limited resources - to blend it and make it look natural with my skin tone….it didn't look the best but it could work -- especially after I refashioned my hair in a low ponytail right over the spot.

I emerged and my dad did question the chocolate, I gave him my prepared answer and he said he was heading up to bed because he was going on a fishing trip the next day pretty early - for a few days --- allelujah! By the time he got back the little bugger would probably be gone…I hoped…

I said goodnight to him and headed back to the couch where I immediately sent Edward a pic. Text with the picture of it saying "Thanks for the surprise."

Then I texted Alice saying, "So how much do you really want to know about what goes on between me and Edward?"

She immediately shot back with, "Tell. Me. Everything."

Ok - well if she wanted to know…I sent her the picture and she txt back with " AHHHH! OH MY GOD! YOU & ME - TOMORROW MORNING - DETAILS."

I was finally able to make it into "Tuck Everlasting without my attention being diverted and the prologue got me thinking:

"The first week of August hangs at the top of every summer…like the highest seat on the Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning…August is motionless and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone…These are strange and breathless days…when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after."

Tomorrow began the first week of August and Bella wondered what it would hold for her…

**So what did you think??? Go let me know in the comments!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!!!**


	13. The Melody of the Music

**Hey everyone!! Here's the next chapter!! No reviews on the last one which was sort of disappointing but maybe this one will do better : ) More from me at the bottom!**

**DISCLAIMER: They're not mine but the plot is….**

I had fallen asleep on the couch, book on my stomach open to the page I had last read. I felt disoriented and had no idea what time it was - a quick look at my phone told me it was a little past 10:30 and then it buzzed, as if greeting me. It was a text from Alice saying "leaving my house now, see you soon!" Oh fluffer nutter! I had completely forgotten I was going to breakfast with Alice -- I ran to the bathroom, not worrying about my appearance since I knew Charlie had left already, and took myself in. Not too too bad… I ran a brush through my hair and gathered it into a pony tail, trying to hide my messiness, and I jumped back when I saw the bruise like disfiguration near my collar bone -- I jumped back in shock! I had apparently also forgotten about my little gift from Edward….I quickly blotted on concealer and then dusted it with powder, hiding any and all traces of it. I then darted up to my room changed my shirt to a navy blue tank top, washed my face and slid on my worn in white old navy flip flops. Just as I was applying a quick slick of mascara I heard Alice beep and I flew out to meet her, right on time.

"Where is it?!?! I wanna see!!!" Alice whined as soon as I was in the yellow Porsche.

"I hid it Alice, you'll have to see it another time…."

"Party pooper!" Alice played and stuck out her tongue.

Today was the day I was meeting Tanya and I was a bunch of nerves so Alice volunteered to pick me up so we'd have time to talk and so she could have a swing at calming me down.

"So is she there already?" I questioned

Alice nodded slowly, unsure of where the conversation was going.

"Has he seen here?"

"Yep…he picked her up from the airport Bella --- how many times do I have to tell you that you really have nothing to worry about???"

I smiled an apologetic smile and said "sorry."

"You don't need to apologize --- I just wish you'd stop worrying…."Alice reached out and squeezed my hand sympathetically.

We had gone about a block and a half chattering absent mindedly when

"Ok - now you NEED to spill! About last night" demanded Alice.

I filled her in on all the details of what had happened and then the questions began:

"So --- how do you feel about all this?" inquired Alice.

I bit my lip, "You caught me….I don't know….is that awful?? I mean - on the one hand I'm thrilled that we're getting to a more physical level because that reassures me that its not just me who feels it emotionally --- but then at the same time, it upsets me -- like, if I can't even bring myself to accept the fact that I very well might love him - how am I supposed to get physically intimate with him??"

Alice looked like she was contemplating her response for a second and then she glanced toward Bella and said, "Well, have you ever thought that maybe you're putting too much thought into the whole 'I love you' thing….or maybe you feel stronger then you realize --- I told you, love doesn't have a time line…."

I nodded as I nervously bit my lip, "Yeah --- yeah………maybe your right….I don't know what to do Alice…"

"Well, you can't do anything about it now -- not with Tanya being around all the time -- so maybe think about it a little bit and figure it out, and then once you guys get to be alone again just tell him whatever it is that you come up with --- whether that means leaping forward and faith or stepping back and slowing down…."

"Thanks Alice --- that's actually really good advice."

And so I kept that in mind and thought about it, in the mean time we arrived at the Cullen's home and it was time to meet her --- it was time to meet Tanya.

Bella felt nerves creeping and thrashing all around her insides, but never the less she went in the house.

Upon entering she thought she might just break down into tears - Tanya was beautiful! She was tall and thin with long strawberry blonde hair that fell in perfect curled ringlets that cascaded down her toned back. She had muscles and grace and a tan Bella had always prayed for but never received. She was wearing cut off jean shorts that fell a little below her hips and a white tank top that was just long enough that it covered her stomach while still allowing just an inch thick ring of skin to be revealed. Her Edward were sitting extremely close together on the armchair in the living room and were laughing at something that had occurred before she and Alice had arrived.

Alice wasted no time, "Hey guys! We're back!" she shouted as they entered.

Edward jumped up and ran to Bella, drawing her into a hug and kissing her once before leading her into the living room saying, "Bella this is Tanya -- Tanya, meet Bella" he said the last part with an irreplaceable twinkle in his eye. Tanya jumped out of her seat, leaned forward a nd gave Bella a huge hug.

"I have heard soooo much about you!!! Lately every e-mail this boy sends me is filled with 'Bella this' and 'Bella that' -- its actually adorable….you two must be so in love!" Tanya spoke all in a rush and Bella was stunned by both the unexpected physical contact and her very untimely comment regarding love…

"I've heard a lot about you too! It's so nice to finally meet you." Bella responded politely, avoiding all the subtext Tanya's laced into her previous statements.

Edward squeezed Bella's shoulder reassuringly. Just then Esme entered announcing it was time for Brunch.

Esme wanted all of us to have a chance to talk with Tanya, so she planned a feast of a brunch for us all to devour.

The arrangement around the large round patio table was Esme, Carlisle, Alice, Jasper, Bella, Edward, Tanya -- I was ticked.

I sat very quietly through the glorified game of twenty questions they asked her; I smiled and laughed when it was appropriate but my mind was somewhere completely different - analyzing her every look, glance, nod, touch and tone that involved Edward.

I did manage to gather that she was a year older then Edward - which infuriated me - that she had not gone to a traditional college but had taken an online course her summer after high school and became a teacher on the island that fall and that she was an only child --- the rest of the time I was too busy trying to sneak in disguised dirty looks to pay attention.

My cap almost blew when she was laughing at something humorous and clever Edward had said about one of their silly island escapades and her hand oh so sneakily just gently touched him on the shoulder --- like really who did she think she was?!?!? Did she not learn basic flirting 101 from Alice??? Because I certainly did and I knew a move when I saw one!!!!

I must have looked quite strange and bothered in some way, because soon the whole family - and Tanya - was looking at me. Edward pulled me in close to him and whispered in my ear "everything all right?" in a very concerned tone while Esme questioned me, "Bella, is the heat too much for you?? We can move inside if you like…"

I was mortified. I think every microscopic molecule of my body flushed blush red in that instant.

"Oh - no -- I'm fine." I muttered meekly, trying to regain my composure. Edward still looked concerned and so I just shook my head while leaning against his chest, looked up at him and smiled trying to calm him.

We all began cleaning up the table anyway, and Edward perched the question, "So, Bella - manhunt rematch tonight??"

I had forgotten all about the weekly ritual that had sparked Edward and I's relationship, we hadn't gone since being together, but Edward wanted Tanya to meet everyone - boy did that sound too familiar…

I really wanted to just go home but no way was I going to let them be all pal-y without me being there, "Oh, most definitely , sweetie!"

Sweetie??? Who was I?!?

Edward looked at me confused and said, "Ok…"

The next couple of hours passed slowly. They consisted of us all sitting in various positions around the Cullen house listening to old stories, and hearing how the children were, and how the school's doing, and how her family is and blah, blah, blah - bore, bore, bore….

Ok - so taking a step back - it was interesting to hear more about the island Edward loved so much, but the fact I had to hear it from her nauseated me -- especially since Edward was watching her like he was a puppy and she was waving a bone, eating the details up like a child ingests candy on Halloween.

Alice thought it might be a good idea for the 5 of us to eat dinner on our own before we went to manhunt so went downtown to a local pizza place, and it actually did make me feel more at ease being in a more neutral location…Thank God for Alice -- she'd been sensing my tension all day and had been texting me checking in and attempting to calm me down -- even Jasper got in on it at one point.

I enjoyed a large pepperoni slice from the pie Edward, Alice, Jasper and I were sharing while Tanya - who was a vegetarian, of course - ate a garden salad.

It was a weird meal -- she just kept talking and talking acting as if she was friggin Miss Sweet Home Alabama and that she didn't know she was driving me crazy; Edward was finally catching on to my tension and kept trying to play referee while Alice and Jasper were doing their best to steer the conversation through the waters of the plain and the generic to keep the dominance away from any one person.

I was never more thankful to me told we had to hurry or else we'd miss picking teams.

We arrived and hellos and introductions were exchanged, everyone seemed glad to meet her but sort of apprehensive at the same time -- but that could've been more because of the pained look on my face, in all fairness…

The teams were drawn and I had ended up on Jasper's team - I butted in

"Not fair Jasper - you had my handicap last time!! I should be on Edward's team and then you can have Tanya -- she'll meet more people on your team anyway…" I said as sweet and innocently as I possibly could. No one put up any objections and so the switch was made.

We were a few minutes into the round and I was going to hide when Edward pulled me behind a bush.

"Edward this isn't the time." I said playfully.

He smiled his beautiful smile and said, " No - listen -- I know this isn't easy for you --- and I know Tanya can come on a bit strong…but --- I really would like you to give her a chance --- and a real chance, not like today…please? It's important to me."

God he had me down - the guilt trip worked like a charm. I smiled sadly and apologized, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me -- I guess I just felt threatened….I'll try….I will."

"Thank you." He leaned in and kissed me; we were in the middle of a tight embrace when the bushes rattled and I heard Tanya's shrieking -- "I found two of the enemy!!!!"

The moment that had just occurred was completely erased and red hot anger boiled in my soul and ran through my veins --- I said I'd try, I didn't say it'd work.

I faked a stomach ache and Alice drove me home, full well knowing I felt just fine and had only wanted to escape the island girl of my worst nightmares.

As we pulled into my driveway Alice stopped me for a second and asked, "Girls day tomorrow??"

I smiled, thankful for a friend to escape in and said "Sounds amazing."

Alice grinned a huge grin and said, "Ok - I'll be here at noon!"

And with that she drove off and I headed off to take a long, well needed, good nights sleep.

The next morning arrived all too soon. The light came shining into my room, it was a beautiful day. Despite all the melodrama I had made yesterday into I was excited to hang out with Alice today - it would be a great escape and give me some time to reset my head and get myself together away from it all. I threw on lightweight grey sweat pants and a basic t-shirt that was bright blue, we were going into Port Angeles for some shopping and lunch and I figured I'd comfy since I'd be trying stuff on all day.

I put my hair in a low, side pony tail to hide the hickie - not wanting to put on makeup in case it would rub off on the clothes.

I was too worried about Edward was thinking about the prior night to eat, so I just played with the bowl of cereal in front of me until I heard the toot of the horn from Alice's car.

I grabbed my purse and headed out.

I opened the car door and the moment of pleasantness I had felt quickly fled when I realized I was being greeted by TWO girls.

"Hey Alice --- hey Tanya…" I sighed as I got into the car --- this was going to be a long day, or so I thought.

Tanya was still just as perky as she was yesterday , "How are you feeling Bella?!? I was so worried when you left last night!"

Who did she think she was fooling??? "I'm feeling a lot better, thanks -- it came on so quick though, who knows when it will strike again" I shot Alice a death glare, telling her with my eyes that if this went badly my phantom stomach ache would be returning.

Totally oblivious Tanya continued, "That's so awful!! I wonder if it was something you ate??"

Alice then took charge and directed the conversation toward more relevant topics, "So ladies, should we eat first or shop first?"

We decided to shop first and then eat somewhere a little bit closer to home.

It was a quiet ride to the mall, we sang along to radio as if we were all old friends but there was a sneaky tension lying under the surface and I think Tanya was even beginning to feel it.

Once we got to the mall we decided Forever 21 would be a good store to start in and we all wandered around the large complex on our own. I ran into Tanya at one point and she asked my opinion on a horrid orange sun dress -- it looked like a dead oompa loompa -- I told her it would be perfect on her, it wasn't exactly a lie….she didn't end up buying it though.

After we paid for our purchases we made our way to our next destination but on the way Alice got a phone call from Jasper and told us to wait for her - so there we were - Tanya and me - alone - can you say awkward?

But then something very funny happened:

"Hey Bella?" Tanya got my attention timidly.

"Yeah?" I tried to reply in as a nice a tone I could.

"I just - I want you to know that you don't have anything to worry about."

The nerve of her calling me on my bull shit, "what do you mean, Tanya?" I asked innocently.

She gave me a look that said she knew all too well the game I was playing, "Oh come on -- Bella, really? -Edward. You don't need to worry -- I know you've been a little put off by me being here and I totally get that - I really do, but you shouldn't be!!! I know I talk a lot and I monopolize conversations and I sometimes come off as a flirt but its Edward -- and to me, Edward's like this goofy, weird, brother sort of guy, ya know? Like I know he told you we dated - but it was literally for like a wekk because it was just too weird, like ewww…ya know???? Do you get what I'm saying??"

My mind was going a thousand miles a minute trying to follow her rapid speech, and as much as some psycho part of me wanted to keep playing the bitter, jealous girlfriend - it was getting old and she did put me a bit more at ease…

"That's really good to hear Tanya -- I'm not gonna lie - I was a bit worried."

"I know! It was written all over you!!!" Tanya laughed and then continued quietly, "I would never, ever get in between you two. The way he talks about you, my god -- if I had a boy like that, oooo woooh" she shook her head, "I know you guys haven't said it - based off of that weird transaction yesterday but he is soo in love with you --- I've never heard him talk the way he does around you or act the way he does when he's around you ever before…"

I was blushing and Tanya realized why so she changed the topic by saying, "So are we good? We're not gonna become the next Angelina - Brad - Jennifer triangle??"

I laughed at her analogy and said, "We're good -- thank you Tanya."

Just then Alice walked back over, "Tanya did you tell her your good news?? Is that what all this commotions about??"

"Alice!! Way to ruin the surprise -- I was just getting to it!"

"What good news?" I was completely baffled.

Tanya shot Alice a glare I was all too familiar with using on her myself and then said, "Well - last night, after you left - Jacob Black and I kinda hit it off and went off on our own and made out behind a tree!" She squealed the last part, "I've never done anything like that before. " She was shaking her head like she was trying to convince a jury.

"Wooooww - that is exciting" So maybe this wouldn't be so bad -- she didn't like Edward AND she'd be occupied with a boy of her own…

She continued, "Yeah - Alice actually set up a date type thing for us tonight -- a couples night, but disguised as a movie night!"

I knew that one -- "Well that's great!! I hope it works out."

Alice piped in then, "Well, Bella Edward said you guys would come too -- so you'll get to be an eye witness."

"Ohh -- Great!" I smiled and tried to figure out how I felt about that and then decided that since she was no longer my nemesis I could be happy and helpful and completely move on from bitchy mc-bitch mode.

We shopped a bit longer and filled Tanya in on the flirting school of Alice Cullen and then headed back to Forks.

We had decided on pizza in the tree house since Tanya'd never seen it and it was becoming a very large part of who Edward and I were as a couple.

Tanya actually impressed me even further by sharing the pizza with us, we got plain cheese classic and so she figured she'd go for it -- my twisted mind decided it was worth Brownie points.

I gave the grand tour of the little room and Tanya discovered Edward's guiatar right away, she pointed at it, "Edward's?"

"Yeah." I smiled remembering the song he'd played me.

Tanya walked over to it and started strumming , "You play too???" I was shocked.

Tanya smile dot herself and looked as if she was going to say something when she stopped herself and then just said, "Yeah - I do --- Edward and I would play together all the time back on the island."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as she remembered there times before sharing with us, "This one time we decided we were so good that we should write a song and play outside the hotel on the other side of the island --- that was a bad idea…."

"Oh my gosh!" I was nervously giggling - knowing that probably ended in them being escorted off the property.

Alice was cracking up, "I remember that!!!! Oh my god -- you two were priceless, I think you ran all the way home - you were so out of breath when you got back."

We were all laughing now and I leaned my head back, accidentally revealing my hickie, Alice noticed,

"AHHHH!!! It's the hickie!!!" She was laughing as she jumped up and ran to me to examine it."

"Oh my god -- Alice, really?!?!"

Tanya was cracking up in that weirded out way, "Edward gave you that?!?" she asked.

I nodded solemnly, totally embarrassed I'd been discovered.

I answered a few minutes of Q&A before the pizza arrived and then we fell into a hungry silence, all of us eating our slices with divine attention.

Tanya was finishing her first slice when she asked, "Got any tunes in here??"

I smiled, thinking about our special radio, "Well - we do --- but it only plays one station and I have a feeling Edward and I are the only ones amused by it."

Tanya nodded, not really knowing what to make of my response, " Does it play CD's?"

"I think so."

Tanya dug in her bag as she said, "Great -- I have something I've been meaning to give you --- I have no reason to keep it and you'll probably enjoy it a lot more than I ever will -- I only hear the flaws."

She handed me a disc that had colorful sharpie drawings on it as I looked at her questioningly, she answered without me asking out loud, "Just play it and you'll see."

I put it in and heard a beautiful melody swim out of the speakers.

After listening for a moment or two Tanya revealed her secret, "This first track is just Edward -- but the rest is the two of us playing together….I figured you might like it - because if he has the same old bad habits, he hates playing for people --- am I right?"

I smiled, "He played me something off the guitar the other day -- but no piano."

"And nothing he's write himself??"

"Your right -- he played me a Tim McGraw song…"

Tanya smiled and said, "Yep - same old Edward…" she paused before continuing, "Well this is all him, all his stuff, I just helped make it audible…"

"Thanks Tanya! That's really sweet, actually."

"Well you're really doing me a favor -- every time I listen to it I just hear the little mistakes I made…."

Alice piped in then saying, "Oh my god - girl - shut up! Your one of the most musically obsessed people I know…."

Just then Alice spotted the aero bed, "Oh My God! Is that where - " she pointed at my hickie, "that happened?!?"

I blushed and laughed shyly.

Tanya just shook her head going "ew ew ew ew" while Alice went, "ahhhhh - oh my gosh --- and was your special station playing??? I think we need to hear this station, right Tanya?"

She smiled tightly just going along with Alice, "I think we might."

I rolled my eyes and said "fine - fine….have your fun."

I turned off the CD and tuned the station and it was in the middle of some slow ballad I didn't recognize - when I looked up from tuning Alice and Tanya were making a farce, acting out in mockery their interpretation of what happened.

Alice grabbed Tanya by the shoulder and put on a deep voice, "Oh Bella!"

And Tanya put on a softer, fake girly voice and said, "Oh Edward!"

Then Alice pushed Tanya onto the bed and said, "I'm going to bite you now!" Before we all started dying of laughter --- ending with Tanya saying, "Oh my god - I can't laugh anymore or I'm going wet my pants!" Which of course made us laugh even more.

Just then, Edward climbed up and said, "What's going on up here?"

We all lost it -- Tanya actually went running for the house and I called after her, "2nd door on the left!!!"

"Bells, what's going on??"

I shook my head, trying to calm down my laughter and said, "Ohhhh nothing, nothing…."

Alice was still on the aerobed in a tizzy causing Edward to say, "Hey sis -- if you're done acting like bozo the clown, would you mind getting outta here -- I want to talk to Bella about something."

Alice got up and said, "Oh fine Mr. Grumpy -- I'll see you later. Bye Bella"

I waved uncertainly and said, "Bye Alice-- thanks for today."

We were alone. I went to kiss him but Edward pulled back and said, "Wait. I really want to talk to you."

I nodded as I said, "Ok."

"I asked Alice to bring Tanya today….Is everything ok now?? I just--- I really want you guys to like each other -- I mean I - " he paused for a second and then continued, "You're so important to me -- but she is too --- and I don't know if I can take a whole week of last night."

I leaned in and kissed him, "You're extremely cute when you worry. But you don't have to -- we talked today and we're great -- she's really nice and I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday --- it was completely uncalled for and I don't know what came over me."

He pulled me close and quietly said, "Don't apologize - it was my fault too -- I should've eased you into her better….but thank you. " He started to speak but cut himself off right away and just said, "Thnak you Bella."

He kissed my forehead and that lead to me leaning my head up so our lips met and we were kissing for a few moments before we heard the creaks on the steps and Tanya re-entered.

"Sorry to interrupt -- do you guys want me to go??"

Edward and I jumped up, he was all nerves saying, "Oh my god - Tanya - sorry!"

Whereas I was more in control of the situation, laughing and saying, "Oh gosh sorry Tanya --- no no, don't leave - that's silly!"

The three of us spent the afternoon joking and laughing and discussing our favorite things and what we could do down at the shore and sharing memories from our childhood, Tanya and I learning more about each other and becoming close friends the entire time.

Soon though it was time for us to head to dinner at Edwards house and we had concocted a funny plan to make up for the awkwardness of the prior day, or at least we thought it was funny.

Esme had prepared a light summery supper of macaroni and tuna salad with toasted rolls to make sandwiches and a refreshing basil and tomato combination as a side; the whole meal was paired with peach iced tea. We ate on the porch as we did the prior day and somehow fell into the same seating arrangement only minus Jasper. Once we were all seated and served we began our little game:

Edward is thoroughly enjoying this meal", said Edward.

"Yes - yes -- Bella agrees; this meal is quite delectable." I stated after him.

"Tanya believes that the Peach tea was a smashing idea!" said Tanya.

The whole table was just staring at us, completely annoyed and unsure of what was going on.

We continued for a solid half hour when finally the always calm and cool Esme said, "Enough. I'm sorry guys but I can't take it anymore…very cute but please -- no more."

We all smiled and apologized to Esme before volunteering to clean up the table; once in the kitchen we all burst into a fit of laughter.

We spent the next few hours hanging out on the couch watching baseball - me draped completely over Edward, Tanya curled into a chair hugging her knees and exuding nervousness and Alice now that Jasper had arrived was actually nowhere to be found.

Jacob arrived at about 7:00 and we all headed to the theatre - he seemed just as nervous as Tanya was and I wondered if that's what Edward and I had seemed like on our courtesy of Alice set up…

We were going to see 500 of Days of Summer but I had a feeling no one was going to be paying attention to the movie. On the car ride over Alice and Jasper couldn't keep their hands off of each other and the chemistry between Tanya and Jacob was totally palpable. And as for Edward and I, we spent the ride holding hands and he rubbed small circles into my flesh with his thumb and it was driving me mad, hot crazy inside.

We got our seats and our concessions and the slightly more than empty theatre was sent into darkness within minutes as the movie began.

I noticed we'd lost Alice and Jasper to another stratosphere about 2 trailers in; Jacob and Tanya were shyly sharing their popcorn and Edward and I were actually watching the movie.

We were a little ways in to the quirky but enticing flick when I felt a tap on my leg, when I looked to the source it was Edward tapping a small piece of napkin, he whispered take it and so I did -- it had writing on it? It read, "I'm so glad you're a part of my life."

It was a a really ghetto love note and it touched my heart so I ripped off a corner of my popcorn bag and wrote him one back saying, " I don't know what my life would be like without you - and I'm so glad."

I leaned on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around me and soon enough we had joined Alice and Jasper in the out of this world realm on planet make out, leaving Tanya and Jacob alone watching the movie, though I'm pretty sure they even joined us at one point.

We stopped for ice cream on the way home, all of us not chatting about the movie, but our upcoming beach trip -- we had even figured out a way to get Jacob there! He was supposed to take a big vacation out East this summer to visit family at a different reservation but it had been canceled due to a conflict his uncle had over looked; despite that though he still had a plane ticket! He would just guilt his dad into letting him upgrade it to a ticket on the same flight as all of them and it should work out fine.

The next day was to be used for packing and then we'd be off very very early the day after.

I was excited for the trip and for all the possibilities that lie ahead of us, especially for Edward and I…I was so shocked when my dad had agreed to letting me go --- I guess he figured I'd be off at college not having to ask his permission soon enough anyway….

I spent the whole day packing and repacking - wanted to make sure I didn't over pack but that I also didn't forget anything. I had been checking in with Alice via text all day to see what she was bringing, what she wasn't bringing and what she thought of what I was bringing. I also kept checking in with Edward to see how he was doing on packing and to try and ascertain how he was feeling about our first unsupervised vacation together because God knew I was actually a nervous wreck inside. After about the billionth time of refilling my travel bag I settled in for a very anxious sleep awaiting the momentous morning that lay just 8 hours away.

My alarm rang as the sun rose and I got myself ready - they were picking me up at 6:30 am and I had awoken at 6. I quickly showered and threw my hair up in a messy bun, pulled on a pair of soffe shorts and a t-shirt, through on a jacket and poured myself a large mug of the coffee I had pre-made the ngiht before. My dad was up, because he was getting ready to go fishing so we said our goodbyes and I waited the few moments that were left with my bag on the porch.

They arrived right on time and we were off to the airport. Everyone was a groggy tired sort of quiet and I think I actually fell asleep on Edward's chest during the drive; Carlisle was driving us so we wouldn't have to worry about parking at the airport.

Once we arrived we checked in, headed through the maze that was security and went to our boarding gate.

We were all waking up now so it was actually sort of fun -- we got McDonalds breakfast and made goofy jokes and laughed about anything that struck us as amusing - since we were all in that weird not-enough-sleep state of humor. Soon enough we boarded and took our seats; We were all mostly in one row it was supposed to be Alice, Edward, Tanya, Jasper and then me and then me and Jacob a row back from them but we traded despite not actually being allowed to, so the new arrangement was: Me, Edward, Tanya, Jacob and then Alice and Jasper.

We had all brought various forms of entertainment, running the gamut from Ipods to magazines to Sudoku books… I however settled into watching the in flight movie, The Devil Wears Prada, while Edward fell asleep with his head resting on mine.

Thanks to the never ending movies, food and entertainment form Alice the flight actually flew by (haha I made a joke - lol) and before we knew it we were landing in Jersey.

We grabbed our bags and disembarked the plane and followed signs to our destination -- the pickup area, where Rosalie and Emmett were waiting for us to whisk us down to the shore for our week of fun.

Once we got down the last flight of stairs we immediately saw them -- they had a big embarrassing sign that said "Welcome to the East Coast Cullens, Bella, Tanya & Jacob!"

Edward play punched Emmet for it when we reached them and then hugs were given all around as Rosalie hurriedly tried to get us all moving out the door so we could get on the road and begin the two hour drive to the house.

Since it was mid-week there was almost no traffic so we were able to cruise down the highway in the topless Jeep Emmett had rented with almost no obstacles, that is without the two bathroom stops Edward had to make. We listened to the radio and got all caught up and eventually we were winding our way through the small streets that were scented with the salty beach air and then we saw it: the house was in the near distance and we were all shouting our excitement.

This was going to be a fun week.

**Ok! So I hope you all liked it but what'd you think??? How do you feel about Tanya?? About Bella's reaction??? About their upcoming week at the beach???--- PLEASSSSSEEEE REVIEW!!!!! **

**The next chapter is something I've been looking forward to writing for a while so please stay tuned! Thanks!!!!**


	14. Beaches, Boardwalks and Rain

**Hey there all -- I'm sorry for the delay I've just been incredibly busy but I hope this super long 2 part chapter makes up for it!!!! This is part 1 -- Read and Review! Part 2 to follow soon hopefully!!!**

**DISCLAIMER: Edward, Bella and co. are Steph Meyers - the plot is mine : )**

Down by the Boardwalk

We walked in and it wasn't a palace, in fact - it wasn't even a cabin -- it was more like a small garage that someone had fooled into thinking it was a house. It had a tiny little bathroom, but the shower was in a hut outside; there were 3 - very tiny - bedrooms and then a "big" room in the front that contained the kitchen and the living room which were separated only by an L shaped counter that encompassed the kitchen. There was a table and a sofa and a few chairs scattered about and then there was a big porch out front that had a partial view of the ocean, if you stood at the right angle…

It wasn't luxurious, and it wasn't glamorous but it was ours and it was perfect.

After we settled in, arranging the suitcases in a way that left the most room open and unpacking the food Rosalie had brought into the fridge and the cabinets, we got changed out of our traveling clothes and got ready to go to the boardwalk for dinner and a night of fun.

It was a short drive from our house to the amusements, but it was a long enough distance that it warranted hopping in the jeep - moments later though we had arrived, bought our tickets to get on the rides, and were figuring out where we should eat.

We decided it would only be appropriate to get a boardwalk classic our first night in town and so we found a cheese steak stand and each ordered our own version.

I got the works -- while Tanya got peppers, cheese, onions and a roll --- basically everything but the steak --- the guy at the counter gave her a VERY weird look, but she just laughed it off as I was learning she did everything.

As we downed our feast we plotted what we would do that night; agreeing to stick together at first and do the few things we all wanted to do and then break off into groups to do whatever else.

And so we headed, my stomach in knots, to the Serpent --- the biggest coaster on the pier that had several loops and went the whole thing in reverse after having done it forward.

We waited in line as my palms sweat and I made several attempts to persuade Edward to just let me wait by the exit for them, but he insisted that I'd regret it and I knew he was probably right - so I stuck it out and soon enough we were being strapped into our cars and I swear I was hyperventilating. I must have looked just as bad as I felt because it was right before we were about to take off , and I felt like I was about to cry and was clenching Edward's hand so hard I think I might've been cutting off his blood supply, that Tanya turned around to say have fun and then immediately said instead, "Don't worry Bella!!! I hate rollers coaster too at first -- but if you don't do it then your letting a machine beat you! You can't do that --- we can't do that! I swear, you'll start having fun around like the middle at the very latest!"

And with that she had to turn around, because we were taking off. Surprisingly her words helped and I slowly released Edward's hand - that was until the first drop where I'm pretty sure I momentarily lost my voice from screaming so loud.

We made it to the backward drop and it was toward the base of that that I started laughing. Tanya had been right, I ended up having fun - though I'm not sure if I'd ever ride it again.

We exited the ride and took a look at our picture that they took at the first drop -- I looked CRAZY!!!

And then we set off to the bumper cars. We were going to do couples but then decided it might be more fun to all go individually. Oh boy, that might've been the best idea ever - it was a blast! Edward's car got stuck in a corner and we all just went at him, and got ourselves tangled in one big bumper car mess.

Once that ended we thought maybe it would be a good time for us to break off and so, wanting some time on our own, Edward and I headed for the Ferris wheel.

We got into a car and we began cycling through the sky - overlooking the ocean and the whole pier and all the people and it seemed like even the moon.

"So - are you having fun?" Edward asked me.

I nodded tight lipped, not wanting to have a generic vacation talk.

"How about you?" I patronized him.

He smiled knowing I could actually care less in that particular moment and said, "It's been fun so far -- it very recently just got a whole lot better" he said as he took my hand in his, referring to our time alone.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and said, "It is absolutely beautiful up here."

"Yeah - "Edward nodded his head in agreement before proceeding, "but - not as beautiful as you."

I smiled hugely, red running up my neck and said, "Where do you get these lines from???" while laughing.

He laughed with me as he put his arm around me and pulled me in close and kissed my forehead.

Too quickly it was time to leave our blissful moment and we decided to share a cotton candy.

We found a booth and ordered the traditional classic pink before starting a stroll down the pier past all the various shops and stands the boardwalk offered, looking at all the different souvenirs and beach type accessories.

I held it and we were both picking at it as we chatted about the various sights and the things we hoped to do while we were here and then the topic came up: post vacation.

He brought it up, "So after we get back there's like - what - 3 weeks before we head off to school?"

I was shocked at the topic he was approaching, "Edward…" I didn't have this talk now, not right then.

"No just - times really been flying…"

"Don't you know that's what happens when you're having fun," I said trying hard to keep my tone playful but also desperately trying to avoid the topic at hand.

"Yeah --- yeah -- I guess that is what they say…….Bella," Edward tried but I cut him off saying, "Edward-", at the same time he'd said my name.

He gave in, "You go."

I closed my eyes for a second and then opened them saying, "I know we have to talk about this -- it's crazy how fast the summer's gone by --- but can we not talk about it now -- not discuss it --- just, wait till we go home."

He nodded and we kissed, holding each other impossibly close like we were trying to fight the impending distance that was bound to separate us.

I didn't want this moment to sag down the night so I lightened the mood by stuffing a large handful of cotton candy in his mouth and he looked at me with a laugh in his eye and a smirk on his face. He reached out to tickle me and I took off running.

We played that way the whole way back to the house, which we walked since we weren't in a rush and it wasn't so great that it couldn't be done.

We got back to the house long before the others and had to have the bed discussion.

Rosalie and Emmet were sharing a bed, Alice and Jasper were sharing a bed, Jacob had agreed to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor so Tanya could have the couch since they lost the drawing of straws for who'd get the couch, and the only ones left to decide how they'd be sleeping was us….

"I don't mind sleeping on the floor" Edward said earnestly.

"But I don't want you to be uncomfortable…"

"But I don't want to force you to do either of the other options --- sleep on the floor or make you uncomfortable having to share the bed…"

"I promise I won't be uncomfortable --- I mean just because we've never" I felt my throat constricting with nerves just bringing the topic up, my body flushing red violet magenta embarrassment, "slept together -- doesn't mean we can't simply share a bed."

Edward just stood silent thinking, probably trying to figure out if I was bluffing or honestly didn't care…

"If you're absolutely - 100% sure that you are totally ok with it --- then I guess that's what we'll do…we'll just share the bed…"he said a few moments later.

I decided to take a shower and Edward read the paper for a bit to catch up on the sports stats he'd missed while packing the day earlier.

I showered quickly, just relaxing my body from all the tense moments, reflecting on all that had happened and all that still lay ahead.

As I stepped out of the little shower hut in the tiny backyard I realized I was going to have to walk through the house in my towel - because I had forgotten about all the conditions linked to the shower being outside.

My hair was dripping wet and my towel just covered me, but I had no other choice - I headed into the house and just had to brave whatever might happen….

Edward's POV

I had been reading the paper for only about 20 minutes when I heard the door that led out to the shower creak open, "Hey -- Bella -- the Mariners won yesterday!" I looked up as I finished my statement and my jaw dropped.

She was basically naked -- her hair was glistening from its wetness and she was wearing only a short, red, terry cloth towel -- was I dreaming?!? Were my high school fantasies being realized?

What was I thinking -- I snapped out of my trance and said, "Ummm -- Bells, why aren't you dressed?"

She blushed from head to toe -- I know because I saw…

She spattered out quickly, "I forgot to bring out clothes -- don't come in the room till I say you can."

And with that she took off running the few feet to the privacy of the room we were sharing.

Her being in the room made me think of us sharing a bed and I couldn't help but let my mind wander to what it might be like to sleep with her while she was like she just had been --- totally uninhibited, unclothed and glistening as if made of diamonds from the drips of water from her damp hair.

I shook myself free as I heard her yell, "ok you can come in --- I'm heading to bed…"

I yelled back, "yeah - I've just been waiting on you -- I'll be in in two seconds…"

I drank a very cold glass of water, tried thinking of anything but what I just had been and then headed into the room to change and head to bed.

Bella's POV

I was nervous about sleeping in the same bed as Edward. I mean, not that I didn't want to go further with him -- I just didn't want it to be the product of us getting a little horny in the middle of the night…and so in my virgin wisdom I wore heavy sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt ,that I intended to be a beach cover up, as my pajamas. I crawled into the bed and only left on a night stand lamp before telling Edward he could come in.

He didn't think anything of it and started preparing for bed:

He took off his shirt - revealing the Adonis of bodies….he was ripped and perfectly chiseled….I think my jaw a dropped a little - then he took off his pants -- he was standing in the partial light in nothing but his boxers and the shadows were creating silhouettes that made him look sexy as hell.

He was pulling on light flannel pajama pants when I thought of a way to distract myself:

I leaned toward the lamp, positioned my hand in the light so that my forefinger was pressing my thumb and cast a shadow on the wall, "Look, Edward! It's a rabbit!"

He was finishing pulling on a black t-shirt, that I swear he was only wearing because he sensed I was uncomfortable with the arrangement, and as he pulled his head through and saw the shadow puppet I'd created he laughed and sprung to the bed, nearly tackling me.

He positioned his hands and then said, "Oh yeah -- well look at this --- it's a hawk --- hawk totally trumps rabbit."

And we went back and forth like that for almost half an hour, laughing the whole time, until our eyes were fluttering and neither of us could put off sleeping any longer. We shut the light, said goodnight with one small kiss and drifted off to dreamland.

The Summer Wind

The next morning came with a beautiful sun and a crystal blue sky with a temperature perfect for the beach.

We all quickly readied ourselves, dressing in our bathing suits and packing our beach bags - grabbing a bagel or pop tart as breakfast on our way out the door.

The best part of our tiny house was that the beach was directly across the street from us and so we made the cross, made our way down the sand and found a perfect spot for us to camp out.

We laid out our towels and always prepared Rosalie had Emmet set up the umbrella she'd brought to cover the cooler of sandwiches she's prepared for lunch -- it was amazing the maturity being a few years older than us had brought her.

The boys all raced into the water, while the 4 of us girls decided to work on our tans.

That was until the boys came back, sopping wet, and picked us up and carried us, kicking and screaming, into the water.

We were all shrieking and shrilly screaming when they tossed us into the waves and of course once we'd recouped a splashing war broke out as we tried to make them pay, unsuccessfully. It was a blast and it led to us spending hours in the cool blue water .

As the tide began to come in we made a game of exiting for a break, we all jumped waves and if the water hit you, you were out and sent back to the blanket, it was down to Emmet and Tanya in the end, with most of us cheering from edge of the water, except for Rosalie who was exhausted from the heat and was napping. They ended up tying, a larger wave knocking them both out of the game at once.

We made our way back to the blanket then and found Rosalie awake and reading a book.

"Hey guys -- your sandwiches are labeled in the cooler if you want to eat now," she said in a way that meant she thought it would be good we ate so we didn't die of heat stroke.

Emmet leaned down and kissed her as he unwrapped his sandwich that said Emmet in red sharpie with a heart next to it and said, "Thanks mommmm!" in a jokey silly voice --- the love between Rosalie and Emmet was beautiful -- I thought to myself, as they shared a playfully intimate moment as if the world wasn't watching, that I hoped to have a love like that one day. Immediately after that Edward came running in my direction with my sandwich and a bottle of water saying, "I got your lunch for you! Do you want to sit in the sun or under the umbrella?"

I smiled to myself as he continued stammering on, "I think we should sit under the umbrella - so we don't get too hot --- but it's really up to you…."

He looked at me, his arms filled with our lunch, as I made my way over to him and put my hand to his chest as I said, "Your always watching out for me --- I think your right, let's sit under the umbrella."

We placed our towels in the shady escape and opened up the sandwiches Rosalie had packed for us.

Mine was Turkey with mustard; Edward's was peanut butter and jelly.

"o0o0o -- yours looks good!" I said as I eyed his meal.

The corner of his mouth raised in a smile as he sighed, "Wanna share?"

And so we split our sandwiches as we watched the waves and the clouds and joked with the others when they stopped by our cool oasis.

As the time meandered past we wandered back into the water for stints of time in groups or alone to cool off and play some more.

Somewhere around midday Rosalie surprised us all by breaking out shovels and buckets and all the essentials to build a sand castle, and so that's just what we did --- we all pitched in and built one of the most awesome sand castles I have ever seen. It had turrets, it had a moat, it had a drawbridge; it was actually massive. Some of the, er, design discussions led to playful sand fights running around the blanket which then led to trips into the water to clean off and splash a bit at whoever had initiated the fight.

It was all so fun and innocent that we lost track of the time and soon the tide began to retreat back into its massive home and the beach began to clear out and eventually we were one of the only few groups left.

We were planning on staying until after the sun set. We were equipped with games and snacks and of course each other, so it was going to be an excellent night.

Around 5:30 Emmett and Rosalie went back to the house to use the grill and get dinner together.

While they were gone, Tanya and Jacob started a game of Frisbee between the two of them and Alice and Jasper were entangled on a towel playing some games of their own, oblivious to the fact Edward and I were sitting right next to them and so we decided to go for a walk down by the water.

The sun was just entering the onset of pink that flows into the sky at sunset and the waves were crashing and thrashing in the background, spray sometimes coming up and brushing our ankles and calves. Our hands were entwines and our arms were swinging in a slow steady rhythm as the beautiful silence spoke volumes between us.

We'd walking for a bit of time when Edward broke the silence playing upset as he said, "So, you're leaving me tomorrow?"

I pushed him to let him know I knew he wasn't all that upset as I said, "Hey -- you could come into town and shop with us --- no one's foooorcing you to go jet skiing with the those guys…"

He smiled, knowing I was on to him as he said, "Welll -- but -- I just - I wouldn't want to upset Jasper -- I mean, he's really depending on me to go…" he stammered trying to play off that he wouldn't go if it wasn't for his friend.

"Edward." I said quietly, "It's fine --- I'm kidding --- I want you to go -- you'll have fun!"

He pulled me into him as he draped his arm around my bare shoulders and for a brief second I wondered what it would be like to have our skin touch like that in other places….

We headed back soon, back to our comfortable silence, our skin still touching and my mind racing a million miles a minutes.

I know I was grinning but he must've been as well based off the looks that graced the faces of our friends for a millisecond when we arrived back at the blanket.

The looks were gone as fast as they'd come , though I was sure I'd be berated with questions the next day, and just after we'd arrived Emmet and Rosalie were walking back with the food.

We all sat around and joked about bad tan lines, our early water competitions and all that had occurred up until that point.

After we had all finished eating and had been sitting for a few moments Rosalie suggested we head back to the house and so we packed up all of our things and began the short walk back to our humble abode.

Edward carried my bag and I couldn't help but stare at him as the setting sun's light illuminated his best features and he joked with Jasper about their excursion for the next day.

Once we were back at the house we all took turns using the shower as we changed into comfy sweats and t-shirts.

Rosalie and Emmett showered together to conserve water and so the rest of us cleaned up the kitchen from the prep for dinner - doing the dishes and scrubbing down the counters.

After they were done they set up camp in the small back yard, wanting to enjoy what remained of the sunset.

As the shower relay continued, Alice and I made coffee and Tanya set some cookies on a tray.

We brought out the thrown together dessert to a very pleased Rosalie and I was surprised when I saw that Emmett was going topless for the evening. He had a good body, but I was more shocked then awed, and actually couldn't help my mind from just immediately thinking that I hoped Edward would follow suit.

After the showers were over, we were all cuddled up by a small fire Jacob and Jasper had built in a garbage can when Emmett said he was board and suggested we play a game.

"Well, what game do you want to play sweetie?" Rosalie answered him sweetly.

Emmett sat thinking for a second before he responded, "How about Twister? I know we packed it…"

Everyone agreed that would be a fun idea and so Emmett retrieved the board; we all took turns spinning the wheel and it wasn't long until we were a huge tangled mess of limbs.

I was twisted in a billion knots with my right foot in the air, my left foot on yellow, my right hand on green and left hand on blue, with myself having to bend through my legs with one hand and underneath a crouching Edward with the other.

It was my turn and I had to move my left foot to green and as I tried to move it without touching the board or falling I teetered and tottered and lost by toppling over, taking down everyone with me.

"We all knew I was uncoordinated." I quipped once I'd hit the ground; we were all laughing and decided it might be time to call it a night.

We cleaned up and put out the fire and headed in.

It had been a fun day and though we weren't going to be together during the day, I was excited for the time Edward and I would get to spend together the next night. It was strange, we were getting so close on this vacation without doing really much of anything and I felt things that I'd never felt before, it was scary in a way but exciting at the same time.

Some Enchanted Evening

The next day me, Alice, Tanya and Rosalie woke up around 10, got dressed and headed out in the jeep to Cape May, a historic town just a few miles south that was known for its shopping. We got there with almost no traffic and stopped first at a café where we grabbed coffee and a light breakfast.

I ordered a Greek omelet with feta cheese and spinach and we settled in sipping from our mugs and enjoying our time together.

Rosalie broached the topic first, "So, Bella --- how are things going with you and Edward?"

I smiled and nodded, "Really good….better than good -- I don't know, I can't put words to it…" I bit my lip nervously for reasons that at the time were unknown.

Rosalie smiled, "Well, I'm glad to hear that -- Alice keeps updating me with all the little details, glad to see your little presents faded, by the way."

Everyone burst out laughing and I covered my mouth with my hand in embarrassment as I'm sure I flushed red.

"No, but seriously -- I'm really glad for you guys." Rosalie finished.

Alice was nudging her and clearly whispering, "Ask her. Ask her."

I gave Alice a curious look and said, "Ask me what?"

Alice sighed and said, "I guess I'll do it…..Well - you guys looked so cute and purely giddy when you walked back yesterday, we were - ok I was wondering if you guys finally said the L word?" she finished looking hopeful.

I shook my head, "No…not yet -- but I think it might be soon." I couldn't help but smile and exude happiness as I said the last part before continuing, "It's been so good - and I've NEVER felt this way ever before and I don't even want to think of life without him and so yeah -- I think --- I might -- I love him."

The table broke out in squeals and Tanya declared, "Well - to our shopping, this announcement deserves a new outfit!"

We took off after paying and didn't stop our spree until later that afternoon when it was time head back to meet the guys. Meanwhile, the boys were having a discussion of their own.

Edward's POV

We were getting our rental equipment to go out on our day on the waves; suiting up and trying on our gear, looking over the pamphlet on how to operate the jet ski. Once we were all confident we could operate the machinery and were suited up we were left waiting for our turn to be announced.

While we waited our minds moved to discuss mindless chatter like ad banners flying through the ski and the hotness level of the woman working at the desk, but then Jasper, who was sitting next to me in the clump we'd formed, nudged me and said "So, what's the deal with you and Bella?"

That caught everyone's attention.

"What do you mean dude?" I said trying to keep my tone casual - though nothing was ever such when it came to Bella Swan in my mind.

"She was all grins when you guys got back from your walk yesterday --- Alice has a theory you finally used the L-word….I told her she was crazy -- but like, is she??"

"Wow. She has officially turned you into a chick man."I said in response, drawing out my time to think of what to say.

"Nice delay tactic asshole. Now really -- come on…."Jasper prodded on.

Emmet stepped in then, saving my life, "I remember the first time I told your sister." He said with a smile as he continued, "We were back on the island --- and I told her I wanted to find a shell for my mom down on one of the coral beaches --- the sun was setting and it was perfect. We found the shell and then we were about to leave and I pulled a "oh wait - I just want to do one more thing" she bought it - with much frustration" he laughed at Rose's stubborn behavior, "and then I told her….I can't believe that was over 4 years ago…"

I wanted to say that one day. "How did you know Emmet?" I put out there.

Emmet smiled, "Well for me - it was easy….she was my best friend and life was never as fun without her -- if a day went by when we missed a phone call I would just like spin out of control and go all emo" he laughed, "I guess maybe I figured it out so easy because I knew what it was like to live without her, and I knew I hated it….and I mean - I just knew….you'll know when its right…."

I shook my head as Jasper and Jacob followed our conversation like a great tennis match, "I don't know" I sighed in exasperation, "I think -- I mean, I don't know….I've never been in love. And yeah, I don't want to ever be without Bella and she makes me smile and laugh and we have crazy amounts of things in common and history and she just like gets me like no one else and we can sit in a room and say absolutely nothing and yet have the best time ever --- but is it love? There's still so much I don't know about her and but like that's exciting -- I love learning new things about her, she gets all excited and blushes and it's so cute" I laughed at my crazy ass ramble as all 3 guys just stared at me in shock and awe before Emmet said, "Oh - dude --- you've got it bad. Why haven't you told her??? ---- Why are you still so unsure?"

I thought for a moment before saying, "We wanted to take it slow -- and she just came back into my life ya know? I figured we should take our time….It feels too soon."

Emmet shook his head and said, "There aint no such thing…"

I laughed lowly to myself as I glanced at the floor in uncertainty before saying, "well - then - I guess -- yeah - I ---- wow - I love her."

Emmet clapped his hand on my shoulder and said, "Well then tell her dude."

And with that our group was called to take our turn riding the jetskis around the waves. We raced and road all over the perimeter. By the time our time was up it was time to head back to the hotel so we could meet up with the girls for another night on the Boardwalk.

Bella's POV

After our day of shopping we headed straight to the Boardwalk to meet up with the guys for another night of fun, though Edward had promised me he wouldn't force me on another roller coaster. We were waiting near the edge of the pier and I couldn't help it when my stomach did a somersault when I saw Edward approaching, walking just a head of the group.

As I noticed them I announced their arrival to the girls and stood up, pretending it was so they could find us but really just so I could get a better glimpse of Edward, when they were a short distance away I waved to direct them toward us.

Edward caught sight of me, waved and began running the few feet that remained to close the gap between us. Once he reached me he pulled me into a huge hug, lifting me in the air and spinning me, before putting me down and kissing me as if we'd been separated for years.

Once I was able I said, "Well hello to you too", with a laugh.

He ignored my jab and simply said, "How was your day? I missed you."

I smiled at his way of just always putting what he felt out there, totally uninhibited, and said with a loving smile as I wrapped my arms around his waist, "I missed you too. The day was good - I bought you a present!"

His eyes lit up like a child's, "O0o0o tell me tell me tell me!!!!"

I laughed at his anxiousness, "No! I want you to be surprised -- you can open it later. How was jet skiing?"

"It was fun -- I totally whipped Jasper and Jacob's asses in the race we had…." He dropped his voice down then so only I could hear him and said, "Honestly it would've been more fun if you'd been there."

I felt all warm and my stomach filled with butterflies as that sincere statement reverberated in my head pulling my heart strings and making me melt, I pulled myself into him closer with a squeeze to show that what he said had meant something to me.

All the while the girls had just been staring at us and the guys looked confused upon arrival but then with an eye roll of dismissal just took to talking to the girls as everyone waited for us to finish our moment.

Alice stepped up to the plates, "Ok - well - if you two are done repulsing the rest of us," she said with a laugh letting us know she was kissing but really did want to get moving. "Maybe we can head to dinner?"

We walked down the pier to this seafood restaurant called Jumbos where we had made a reservation earlier in the day; as we walked Edward and I kept our holding position with his arm tight around my shoulder and mine around his waist and I leaned my head on his chest.

As our group past the tourists in shorts and T's I realized how over dressed we all looked -- since we'd gone shopping all us girls were dressed in cute outfits, myself wearing a light, white cotton skirt that had a baby doll frill at the bottom that fell just above my knee and had a really good spinning quality to it and then I had on a white lacy camisole with a light blue cardigan over it. As for shoes I'd gone with a white chunky heeled sandal that had little bows on the front. The girls and I had a reason to be dressed up, but the guys had been jet skiing and then had gone back to change -- Emmet, Jasper and Jacob weren't even that out of character -- just jeans with fitting T's -- but Edward had on his jeans, not so out of the ordinary, and a black button down shirt with nice shoes instead of the default sneakers….Realizing this oddity I asked him about it, "What's with the outfit?"

He laughed, "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to notice," I play hit him for this, "let's just say I have plans for me and you tonight. Great, great plans." He was laughing lightly as he spoke and I was left totally baffled and puzzled.

Once we were seated we all began discussing what we were planning to do that evening - Jacob and Tanya had planned some alone time for themselves with a trip to the aquarium, Alice and Jasper were going to go down to the next pier and see a concert on the beach, and Rosalie and Emmett were planning to play the mini-golf course that was on top of the arcade overlooking the pier -- Edward refused to reveal what he had in store for us.

As dinner continued we all revealed details from our day, the guys rehashing every minute they had spent on the water -- including Emmett falling in, Jacob diving in to help him, multiple races and a few other hysterical fiascos. We spoke briefly of the historic houses and tiny shops but the boys weren't interested so we turned our chatter to the topic of the water park we were to visit the next day.

Soon it was time for us to break off and I still had not even an inkling of an idea as to where we were headed.

As we exited the restaurant Edward hailed the tram car and as we heard it announcing itself "WATCH THE TRAM CAR PLEASE!" he leaned into me and whispered, "you're going to love it."

I simply smiled and nodded, overwhelmed by his romancing as we took our seats and headed down the boardwalk to a far off pier we had never visited.

Once we'd gotten off I heard the light whispers of classic music in the distance. Edward led the way and as we walked the music got clearer and clearer until I was able to make out that it was "Summerwind" by Frank Sinatra and I could see a large Gazebo on the edge of the pier near the stairs to the beach with an old school band and a group of senior citizens, and a few middle aged couples, swaying beneath it.

I turned to face him and just looked into his eyes, trying to figure out if this was our activity for the night - he answered me with his next statement:

"So? What do you think ---- Can I have this dance?" he said as he extended his hand towards me.

My mind was swirling like warm caramel atop a foamy coffee -- he was taking me to a dance -- and not just any dance but a classic dance -- like we did in our tree house.

I pressed my lips together and began nodding my head vigorously before breaking out into a foolish grin and squealing - "How did you find out about this???"

He smiled at my excitement, glad he had made me happy, "There was an ad in the lobby of the hotel…it seemed like something we would do…"

I hugged him close, pressing my body into him as I said, "This is perfect."

He kissed me lightly as he took my hand and led me to the sign in tent.

Once we'd paid and entered we found a place at a small bar they'd set up and got drinks while we adjusted to the environment and took in the atmosphere.

He ordered us both virgin Shirley temples and just before he took a swig of his he clinked my class and said "Here's looking at you kid." As he winked.

He would quote Casablanca on this night, I bit my lip - loving it all before saying, "We'll always have Paris -- or at least Pre-school" before taking a sip of mine with a laugh.

Just as we were laughing at our strange antics "Some Enchanted Evening" began to play out of the speakers.

We looked at each other and knew we had to dance to it and so wordlessly he took my hand and led me to the dance floor. We joined the other couples and began to turn around the room to the slow easy rhythm. We spun and swirled and it was magical - t felt as if we had been transported back in time to one of those old big band dances from the days of the World Wars….It had been the first song we danced to in our tree house and now it was even more special somehow because it was real and we were underneath a sky of diamond like stars and it felt like a true timeless old movie where the guy and the girl are frozen apart from the world and nothing but the eyes of their partner and the beat in their heart matter and so we were floating in time and as the song came to its close we pulled back from the tight embrace we'd been in to look at each other and as we gazed into each other's eyes I think we both knew - this was it.

He took my hand and led me off the floor saying "Do you want to get some air?"

Despite being in an open air gazebo we both seems slightly flushed and so I agreed with a quick nod and he led me down the steps to the beach where we kicked off our shoes and let them hang off the hand we weren't using to embrace each other.

It was a beautiful evening, the stars were twinkling and the moon was a glow; the waves were rocking back and forth in an unsteady beat to the rhythm of nature, the water glittering under the light from the sky and the pier. There was a light breeze that caused my hair to blow just so, but nothing that made it uncomfortable or worthy of a jacket.

We were walking in silence for a while before Edward began speaking, "Bella, I - I just want to tell you how much fun I've been having with you this summer --- I thought it was going to suck being home all summer, unemployed and all that --- but it has become the most unexpected most exhilarating time of my life."

I blinked a few times, I hadn't been expecting this sort of chat, before saying "I've been having a really nice time with you too Edward. I'm so happy -- It's funny - I can't even imagine my life without you anymore…"

It seemed that he gasped at my statement, but it had gone so quickly I missed it, and then he said "I feel the same way."

There was a two second lull as we headed back toward the pier and could begin to hear the music wafting back into our consciousness, they were playing "The Way You Look Tonight" and as we sauntered our way back to the steps Edward grabbed my wrist and spun me back into him, dancing to the climax of the song on the sand

"_Cause I love you just the way you look tonight"_

As the song shortly came to a close he pulled me in extremely close to him and I breathed in everything about the moment; he kissed me and then pulling away just enough so that I could see his eyes, our foreheads still brushing he said, "Bella - I've been thinking about this a lot and ---" he paused and took a breath before continuing, "I love you."

My heart stopped. Did he just say what I think he said? My mind was racing and my heart was pounding - I couldn't even put a solid thought together and somehow I was able to stammer out, "What?"

His face was a mix of bemusement and horror and he didn't speak for a few seconds but then somehow whispered out, "I know it's quick - and we've only been back in each other's lives - well - for a short time - and we did say we'd go slow - but---- I can't help it. I am in love with you."

This time I was just silent, my breath completely taken away.

I bit my lip as I continued to just look at him and he stared at me expectantly, searching my eyes for a response and then a slow bubble of joy rose from the pit of my stomach to the corners of my mouth forming a smile to the pupils of my eyes causing them to twinkle and a warmth spread over me making me feel comfortable and protected and looking at his anticipating eyes I knew in that moment that it was right.

"Edward," I began quietly biting my lip in a pause in between as I inhaled confidence and took the leap I'd been putting off, "I love you too." I nodded to emphasize, "I thought it was quick too -- but I do. I never want you to leave my life and I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

In that moment Edward leapt forward and grabbed me pulling me into him closer than I thought possible and kissed me like he'd never kissed me before.

He pulled away slowly, holding my face in his hand and looking at me like a revered object and said, "I was so afraid to tell you -- I thought you were going to get mad or say like no - you didn't back or something…." He was shaking his head, as if in disbelief that the moment had just happened and so to calm himself he sat down on the sand.

I sat down next to him and took his hand as he wrapped his other around my shoulders, "How could you ever think that?" I asked as I leaned my head to his chest.

He smirked, "I don't know -- you're just so amazing and I didn't want to ruin anything…didn't want to lose you."

I looked up straight into his eyes and moved my hand to the side of his face, "You could never ruin anything and you will never lose me. This is it for me."

And with that we kissed and it was slow and perfect. It was as if we were expressing how much we needed each other in this moment, clinging to each other so tightly I thought we'd never be able to break apart. Our hands and limbs were a tangled mess and we were covered in sand but it was worth it for the sweet feeling of his tongue against mine and the comfort of having his arms encompass my entire body and for the feeling of rockets exploding in my soul as we crossed bridges and passed the world by in our oblivious state of love.

Soon we realized the music had stopped and that a lot of time had probably past by and so broke apart and decided to call it a night.

We raced back to the house in our old kidding way and though I think I won, we decided it was a tie.

When we got in, the house was dark and there was a note from Rosalie on the table:

"Couldn't get in touch with you guys - went down the road to hear some music and get a drink"

We were both tired and wanted rest for the water park the next day and so we decided to brush off the sand and just call it a night, heading to bed - saying "I Love You" again and again as we drifted off to sleep.

Fire and Rain

The next morning we awoke to the sounds of tapping drips of water on the window sill and the pounding of rain on the roof, thunder boomed in the distance and as we opened our eyes we saw the sky be graced with the presence of a flash of lightening - it was a thunderstorm and all the weather reports were saying the same thing: it was not going to let up so make plans to stay inside. We were at the beach and we had to stay inside all day --- we were all pretty bummed out. Needless to say we did not go to the water park. We were all mopping around the kitchen playing with our breakfasts in quiet frustration when Rosalie appeared from the bedroom with a bop it and boom box.

"Ok - stop all the moping --- we're going to turn this into a party!" She said as she set up the boom box and attached an IPod to it.

Music began to fill the space and everyone smiled, but only to really not offend Rosalie. Then she began the bop - it.

The familiar rhythm of "bop - it, push - it, pull - it, doo doo doo -- pass it" played through and we all began to lose our sourpuss attitudes and actually had a lot of fun. In the end it was down to Emmet and Edward with everyone taking sides playfully. Emmett won to a round of applause but Edward got the great consolation prize of me kissing him and cheering him up as he faked upset. We all went off on our own for a bit, Edward and I carried his consolation prize a little further while the others did god knows what. But around lunch time we all sort of reconvened in the living room area, mostly due to the amazing smell that was coming from the stove -- Rosalie had made grilled cheese sandwiches and Lipton chicken noodle soup. It had been years but even I still remembered that's what Esme had served her kids on rainy Saturdays while they were growing up.

As we all filed in Edward roared with excitement grabbing his older sister from behind and giving her a huge hug while Alice teased by saying, "Thanks mom!" while the rest of us said thanks and just enjoyed being in this moment --- it felt like we were all one big family.

Just as I was admiring the moment Edward threw off the lights, turned a flashlight on under his chin and said, "Does anyone remember Halloween weekend when I was 6?!?!?"

I got sad at that remark, "I had already moved by the time you were 6."

Then Tanya piped up, "And no fair for the new comers" while smiling and Jacob laughed.

Alice shouted out then, "I remember Edward."

Rosalie and Emmett were next to chime in saying, "We do too…"

"Well what happened??" I asked impatiently.

Edward laughed as he crossed to me and enveloped his arms around me and said, "Well- we had all had these huge plans to raid the town trick or treating on Halloween that year but then it rained-"

Rosalie but in, "Poured is more like it."

"Yeah - " Edward continued, "So mom wouldn't let us out, but instead my dad turned all the lights out in the house and set up a tent in our den and we had a pretend campfire and everything -"

"And mom made smores over the stove!" Alice was the one to pipe in this time.

"Yeah," Edward continued, "and it was great and we told ghost stories all night, or well at least until it was bed time and Emmett's dad picked him up…"

"Aw - wow…"I sighed. "I wish I had cool memories like that…"

"Your fault you moved" Edward teased and I nudged him in the rib saying, "Watch it buddy…"

We kissed playfully and when the groans from the crowd overpowered our desire he pulled away saying, "So how 'bout it --- ghost stories?" He asked as he swung the light around the dark room so it passed over everyone's face.

10 minutes later we were all seated in a circle on the floor ready to go when Alice spoke, "Wait --- this really doesn't feel right without the s'mores…"

"She's right." Rosalie sighed.

Edward let out an jokingly exasperated breath and said, "ok --- fine --- we'll hold for s'mores."

Rosalie, Alice, Tanya and I all headed to the kitchen and began sticking marshmalloes onto all the wooden spoons the kitchen had to offer and when that ran out Alice began cycling marshmallows through the microwave while Tanya methodically sandwiched the perfectly charred sweet goo between graham crackers and added the chocolate.

About 15 minutes later we went back into the living room to find the boys had constructed a tent.

"Nice job guys!"Tanya exclaimed as she entered the make shift abode.

We all chowed down as Edward began the story - "Once upon a dreary night…."

20 minutes and 500 shrieks later the story had ended and I was freaked out!!! I kind of hated scary stories…

Edward went to go turn the lights back on when he called out to us, "Hey guys -- during the story - I think the lights really went out --- the switch isn't working…."

Rosalie started her way out of the tent while saying, "Does anything else work???"

After a quick check we realized the power had indeed gone out.

"Well shit" was all Emmett had to say on the matter.

"I mean - it's not thaaat bad," reasoned Alice.

"No - Alice --- almost all the food we have is stuff that needs to be cooked --- pasta, frozen vegetables…" Emmett explained.

"So?" questioned Alice.

"It's an electric stove." Rosalie filled us in.

"Ehhh --- shit…" Alice got it.

Rosalie looked through the food we'd brought and then came forward with the results, "We have a few apples, some leftovers that definitely haven't had a chance to go bad, cereal, jello, a pudding cup, some cupcakes, and pasta salad.

Tanya was the first to admit, "That just made me really hungry."

We all agreed to eat and so we gathered our mix matched banquet and laid it out on the small table in the living room. We gathered on the couches and the floor around it with Me and Jasper on the couch, Edward at my feet with Tanya to his right and Alice to his left and Jacob on the couch above Tanya with Emmet to his right and Rosalie in an armchair between Emmett and Alice.

Edward was about to cut into an apple when I stopped him - "wait."

He looked at me confused, "What?"

"You should could it so it makes a star!"

"What" Edward said as he licked his lips in amusement.

"You know - like when we were little -- my mom would always cut the apple so it would look like a star in the middle and we were fascinated by it."

Jasper over heard and chimed in in a mock whiny childs voice, "Oh yeah - come on Edward, cut it like a star!"

I jabbed Jasper with my elbow and then slid down to Edwards level on the floor and looked into his eyes sharing one of those moments that I was learning to just absolutely love.

"I don't know how." Was Edward's reply to me.

"I'll show you." I said taking the knife and apple from him without breaking the connection.

I cut the apple just so and then fed a slice to Edward and it might have been one of the most sensual experiences I've ever had in my life.

Just as we were both enjoying the moment I felt a cold, wet, mushy - something hit me square on the cheek - I broke away from Edward to discover that it was a bit of chocolate pudding Emmett had wailed across the room.

Edward saw and said to his almost brother-in-law, "You're going to pay for that" and with that Edward hurled a hand full of pasta salad that landed right on Emmet's forehead.

Soon enough the whole room looked like a war zone, covered in food and we were all completely covered when Rosalie began shouting , "Call a truce! Call a truce!! - We can't ruin the furniture."

Emmett and Edward shook and everyone else just let out sighs of relief and everyone was laughing as we took in our current condition.

I think it was Tanya who suggested it but we all ended up running outside to shower off in the rain. The rinsing became a giant dance party as Emmett turned on his car radio and blasted the volume.

Everyone was jumping around, getting soaked, and totally loving the moment.

Slowly everyone filed back inside to dry off or to the shower hut to take a proper shower when all that was left was me and Edward standing in the rain.

I was about to head inside when he said, "Wait." And he changed the station and lowered the volume on Emmett's radio.

It was a softer, slower, more our style type of song and Edward said, "Dance with me" as he crossed toward me and took my hand.

His touch felt like electricity and I could feel the heat race through my veins as we spun and twirled in the rain.

He dipped me and as he did so he whispered in my ear, "Do you remember?"

I tried to see what he meant in his eyes but when I couldn't unveil it I asked, "What?"

He smiled, "When we were kids you watched some girl movie and then told me that your dream in life was to dance in the rain with a boy that you loved."

My eyes lit up with the memory - "Oh my gosh --- you have an incredible memory, you know that right?"

He shrugged as if it were nothing, pulled me up and spun me into his arms as we continued to rock to the music.

As the song ended we kissed and he broke away to turn off Emmett's car.

After, we came back together leaning our foreheads against each other and holding hands, breathing slow deep shy breaths; our hearts racing the entire time.

We kissed gently and it quickly escalated to the point where we physically had to pull ourselves apart before returning to our leaning positions where he had his hands entwined in my hair and I had my hands on his shoulder and chest.

It was then that he whispered, "you're drenched."

I breathed out slowly, "So are you."

His breath was hot against my skin and his voice was deep and husky as he said, "we should go inside and dry off."

I looked him in the eyes and confidently nodded before we walked into the house just holding hands and headed for our room to dry off and call it a night.

**So that's all for now….part 2 of the beach adventure will hopefully be up soon but with the semester winding down and finals coming up my work loads kind of intense….Stay Tuned!!! **


	15. Home

**Hey everyone! Thanks to the 2 people who reviewed after the last post - it means so much and got me to write the (shorter) second half of the beach adventure chapter! So please read, enjoy and review!**

**DISCLAIMER: The gang 'aint mine but the plot line is =) **

I was awoken the next morning by Edward tracing circles on my bare back with his finger. As I cracked open my eyelids, loosening their tightly shut sleeping state I noticed the sky was navy blue through the window and groaned thinking it was another day of perpetual rain and storming. My irritation was subsided though by the gleaming smile of Edward in my peripheral vision; he was lying next to me, shirtless with only his boxers on, and he was a dream of a wakeup call. I rolled over as my blood began to circulate, making me more lively, and whispered to him "good morning". His smiled widened he leaned in and kissed my forehead, then my eyes, my nose and finally my mouth before saying, "good morning" back to me. He pushed a stray hair behind my ear, leaning in to kiss me gently again, before he rolled off the bed and began to pull on sweats saying, "Come on - get dressed! We have to get going or we're going to miss it."

"Miss what?" was my response and then as I rolled over to get off the bed my eyes caught sight of the clock - it was 6 am. "Edward?! It's so early - why are we up?"

"Just get dressed. Quickly." Was all he replied with.

I threw on my Princeton sweat pants and a white cami with a black sweat jacket I'd bought at the boardwalk that said "Wild Wood" across the front and looked like it had been splattered with paint; I then slid on my flip flops and followed a very rushed Edward out the door.

He led me by the hand across to the beach and then down the sand where he laid down a blanket near the edge of the water. He gestured for me to sit and then once we had both gotten comfortable he wrapped me in close and kissed my forehead. I broke the silence saying, "so we're??"

He smiled and looked me in the eyes as he quietly finished the sentence I started, "watching the sun rise."

I smiled, loving his thoughtfulness and ingenuity and kissed him before saying, "that's a great idea."

We sat there just holding each other quietly entwined on the sand as the sky was painted with hues of orange and red and pink and yellow and purple and slowly became the palest blue with streaks of white clouds and highlights of remaining pink. My stomach grumbled and so we decided to head back to the house to eat some breakfast.

When we arrived back to the house everyone was still asleep so we decided to make pancakes for us all.

I brewed some coffee an Edward began to make the batter; all was going harmoniously and then it happened. He flicked a spoonful of batter at me. It was about the amount of a table spoon and it was slowly sliding down my cheek.

"You're going to pay for that." I stated and he rushed toward me grabbing me before I could take action, holing me so that my arms were locked under his and he triumphantly said, "Oh yeah?" with a smirk on his face. He thought the game was over as we just stood in each other's arms and so he loosened his grip - allowing me to get a swipeful of batter onto my finger which I then smudged onto his nose saying, "Yeah."

We both began laughing and he wiped the batter of his face and I licked it off his finger. I wrapped my hands around his neck and he brought his head closer to mine and like a magnetic connection our lips came together and we kissed feverishly, moving so I was leaning up against the counter.

We were disturbed shortly after by a loud "Ahem" from the kitchen entryway. It was Alice, "I smelt coffee. Should I come back in a moment or can I get some now?" she tiredly asked in a monotone voice.

Edward was the one to reply, not even looking at her - he only pulled his face far enough away from mine to raspily answer her question - "just give us a couple minutes."

She turned around with a humph and returned to her and Jasper's bed where we're pretty sure she fell back asleep. We went back to kissing, escalating from feverish to full on passionate when Edward surprised me by licking the pancake batter that remained off my cheek and moved his kissing down to my neck. As much as I was loving the entire situation I knew it would be hard for us to live with everyone else for even just one more day if we were caught in this position, besides it was getting a little too hot for a kitchen we shared with 6 other people, and so instead of pushing forward with the escapades I pulled back and said, "we should make the pancakes or move to the bedroom - but I'm hungry -- so let's make the pancakes." He pulled back in defeat, chuckling at my reasoning and then resumed our earlier activity as I got mugs and plates and forks and knives and syrup and butter and all the other things that go with a pancake breakfast and set them out on the other end of the counter.

Soon enough everyone was awake, including Alice - who had told everyone what had happened earlier, and we were all enjoying our pancakes at the picnic table in the yard under the beautiful sun which had returned for our last day.

As we ate we all discussed our plans for the day: Rosalie & Emmett were going to go into Cape May for a trolley tour and a couple's spa session Rosalie had found out about before getting lunch and picking the rest of us to head home - today was our last day. Alice and Jasper were going to the boardwalk to ride monster trucks and play a few games before meeting up with me and Edward to go mini golfing and grab a quick lunch. Tanya and Jacob were going to rent a kayak and spend the day on the water and then meet us back at the house when it was time to go. As for Edward and I we were going to quickly pack up our things and then go bike riding before meeting up with Jasper and Alice at the mini golf place.

Everyone took off and Edward and I were tidying our room - sorting clean clothes and dirty clothes, what was his and what was mine and then once our bags were packed and waiting near the door we made the bed, after which we collapsed down onto the newly tidied covers and just looked up at the ceiling. Edward snuck his hand into mine and we pulled me closer to him, rolling me into his body. Our lips crushed together and travelled all over each other's mouths, our tongues comfortably danced together and all felt perfect in the world. We completed what we had started earlier, got changed for our bike ride and then took off.

We rode all around the area, along the ocean and down the boardwalk taking in all the great sights of out vacation and then we travelled to Duffers where we were meeting Alice and Jasper for mini golf and lunch.

We played the course we a number of crazy antics - including Alice hitting the ball completely across the course and almost hitting a small child in the head with her club in her search to retrieve the rogue ball. Soon after we were seated in the restaurant portion of the complex and placed our order. As we waited we all reminisced about everything that'd happened that week and discussed what we should do with what remained of summer once we returned home. Our food arrived we quickly ate and then took off for home - Edward and I on bicycle raced Alice and Jasper on foot, running ; we obviously won.

We all laughed when the made their final sprint to the house and applauded their effort as we started to gather our things and pack up the Jeep to return the way we'd come and catch our flight home.

It was a ride full of laughs and singing along to the radio followed by silence and cuddling as various members started to doze off.

Once at the airport we said our goodbyes to Emmett and Rosalie, checked in and dealt with security and then sleepily waited to board our flight.

We all slept at various points of the ride - Edward and I cuddling and sharing small kisses in between our bouts of slumber.

We landed in the wee hours of the morning and were greeted by Esme and Carlisle who helped us speedily find our luggage, pack it into the car and then took us back to their house where we all crashed, falling asleep within minutes. Girls in Alice's room, Boy's in Edwards….

It had been a perfect week and I was beaming as my mind drifted off to the land of dreams but I couldn't help the small twinge of sadness I felt from Edward not being by my side beneath the covers.

The feeling faded as the twilight of sleep took over and soon I was asleep and we were together in my dreams. I couldn't wait to see what the rest of summer held for us.

**Thanks for reading everyone! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! They're like giant hugs and wishes of encouragement to get the next chapter up : )**


	16. I'll Be Seeing You

**Hi everyone, so it's about a year since I first started this piece and so much has happened over that time, hence the long delays in postings which I truly apologize for; this is the last chapter before the Epilogue. I hope you enjoy it! Please Review!**

**DISCLAIMER: The characters are Steph Meyers, plots mine :D**

The Calm Before the Storm

The rest of the week as well as the next were spent by the lake with canon ball contests, splash wars and rope swings from trees (a la The Notebook haha) . It went by in a beautiful blur of fun, love and memories with the 6 of us - Alice, Jasper, Tanya, Jacob, Edward and I - becoming closer than you would think any group of friends could be. Soon though came the time for Tanya to head back to the islands and so we had a going away BBQ for her. It was a fun afternoon plastered with hotdogs & "sporting" events. First up was waffle ball which the whole Cullen clan, Tanya, Jacob and even myself participated in - girls v. boys style - the girls totally whipped the guys asses. We moved on to a tug o' war which the guys won by brute force followed by the biggest, most epic water fight known to mankind. We used guns, balloons, water bottles, and had sprinklers sporadically going off in secret locations. It was amazing and actually came to a tie because we all got equally drenched.

Tanya left the next morning and our small group united for breakfast after dropping her off at the airport. Jacob was caught dismal since his summer love was leaving and though they said they'd be in touch that was quite a distance to hold for a first relationship and I think they were both leaning towards the prospect of just being friends. After breakfast Jacob broke off and the four of us which remained walked around town for a bit, adjusting to life without our new friend who we'd grown so attached to. Later in the day Jacob and Alice broke off too leaving Edward and I alone, we headed to our tree house where we just laid in each other's arms for a while before we both got hungry and ordered pizza to the tree house - the delivery guy was quite bemused. As we finished up our pizza Edward turned to me and told me he had a surprise he'd been wanting to give me all day but had been trying to find the right time.

"No time like the present." I replied

He went to the corner and retrieved his guitar which he'd left behind during a prior visit. He brought back to where we were sitting and sat close to me and began to play. It was a sweet melody that blossomed into the air but I couldn't place the tune so I just listened mesmerized both by Edwards amazing grace and skill in plating as well as the beauty of the song that was unfolding in my ears. When it was over I held Edward's hands in mine trying to show my appreciation as I said, "Edward, that was absolutely beautiful - but, I don't recognize the song - I don't think I know it -?" I was left hanging with my question as Edward smiled smallly and shyly scratched his neck before speaking. When he did finally let out soft spoken words he said, "That's because I wrote it" he paused and bit his lower lip lightly, almost as if he were embarrassed, "for you."

"What?" I was shocked.

"I wrote it for you - when you first got back in Forks - I was captivated, couldn't stop thinking about you - so I wrote a song - I guess you could say inspired by you….and then we started hanging out and I knew I felt something for you and so I started tweaking what I'd written to personalize it and make it more you and well, I wrote this - for you."

I was completely stunned and had no idea what to say so I sat there quietly for a moment, looking into his eyes and at the guiatar that had just delivered one of the most precious gifts I'd ever received before saying, "Edward. Thank you. It was - absolutely beautiful."

He pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head but I leaned up and kissed him on the lips, I pulled back though before it could get any further and asked, "why didn't you play it for me before now?"

He laughed before answering, "Well, I wasn't actually ever going to play it for you - I'm actually pretty private about my music usually - I don't share it with many people - especially the stuff I write - But - I played it for Tanya and she told me that I should cut the crap and play it for you - but more importantly I've recently come to terms with the fact that you're the love of my life and so it became very easy for me to play this for you - I wanted to share that part of me with you - I was actually quite anxious about it, I wanted you to know this part of me and I thought this would be the best way."

I was stunned again. Not only had he written me a beautiful piece of music but in playing it for me he'd opened up and shared one of the most private parts of his life with me, not to mention he' d said I was the love of his life - I felt like I couldn't breathe and the world was spinning at 1000 miles a minute. "Edward, thank you. Thank you so much. I know that was probably really difficult and I appreciate it so much - I'll treasure it forever - I love you so much," was what I came up with to say.

He pushed my hair behind my shoulder and wrapped his arms around me tight and said, "I'm glad you're happy and you liked it but like I said once I realized it wasn't difficult at all because I want you to know me on that level - on every level - I love you too - more then I think you'll ever know…"

We kissed and his phone buzzed he ignored it but it did break the moment but he abated the ever settling silence by mentioning that he'd recorded the song onto a CD so I could have it with me. I was in the middle of joking how I could play it when I'm lonely when his phone buzzed again, he was going to ignore it but I intervened, "Edward, you should answer it - maybe your mom needs something or something…."

He smiled at my worrying and answered, "Hey mom, what's u-." The smile was gone.

"Edward what happened?" I could tell something was wrong just by the way the look in his eyes had changed, not to mention he's whitened drastically. He hung up the phone and was quiet, "Edward, what's wrong? What happened?" I queried.

The Storm

After blinking a few times he answered me, "There's a hurricane not far from the coast of Turks and Caicos…they think it's going to be really bad."

What a drastic change in mood….I wasn't about to say it would all be ok because I didn't know that so I just held him in my arms and let him rest his shoulder on me for once. We sat there for what I'm sure was hours, the sun set in the time we'd sat there and though we'd changed positions a few times we just lay quiet - we kissed sporadically in rare moments Edward felt the need to do something but otherwise I just sat with him, allowing him to process the possible outcome. We only ever moved because we got so hungry we were about to eat the shag rug. Since we'd walked to my house I drove him home in my truck and decided I'd stay for dinner and see if there was anything I could do to help the family I loved deal with the catastrophe striking the island they loved.

When we walked in the door everyone's eyes were glued to the new report that was tracking the storm, it had just hit the coast and there was no telling how long it would last or how bad the repercussions would be. There was an abandoned pot of chili on the counter and a bowl of rice on the table, it was easy to assume the news had broke in the midst of Esme preparing the family meal. As the news ended for regularly scheduled programming, Esme came to and snapped back to her usual chipper self readying dinner and getting everyone else's moods up too all the while manipulating them to help set the table and such like a chief sending troops into battle. Once dinner was on the table we all gathered and had a relatively good time, but no one talked about the weather, Turks or Tanya. After dinner I helped Esme and Alice with clean up while the guys roasted some marshmallows on the grill for us to have for a quick dessert, we ate them while playing a quick card game Emmett had taught us while down the shore and then I said good night and headed home. I prayed to God that everything would be ok and that in the morning I'd wake up to news that it had been a false alarm and that everything was fine.

I fell asleep fast and had bizarre dreams of me, Tanya and Edward surfing while Rosalie and Emmett floated above us in a hot air balloon but was awoken around 10:30am by my phone sounding off loudly. I ignored it but then an hour later it went off again, "Hello?" I answered without looking at the screen.

"Bella - did you listen to my message?" Alice inquired anxiously from the other end.

"No - sorry - I over slept, what's up?"

"They can't find Tanya - her mother called early this morning asking if we'd heard from her after she landed…."

"What?" panic was flowing through my veins, "Alice - what happened to her?"

"They don't know - they're going to keep us posted but with all the rain down there right now it's really hard to search for people, let alone one girl…"

"Oh my god - Alice- um, I just woke up but I'm going to get dressed and come over…."

Alice let out a short breath and then spoke, "That's actually why I was calling you - I mean, we're all in a panic about Tanya but nothing's confirmed yet so we're trying to keep high hopes but when Edward heard - well - he ran up to his room and hasn't come out since and that was at like 7 am…. we were sort of wondering if you might be able to come over and go up there - that way you can check on him without it looking like you're checking on him…?"

"Don't worry about it Alice - it's not a problem - like I said I want to be with you guys for this anyway…..I'll be right over."

I quickly dressed and sped over the the Cullen's where I found Esme making sandwiches, Jasper holding Alice on the couch, and Carlisle pacing with a phone to his ear having some conversation I had no idea what about - so much for keeping high hopes.

Alice came over to me and hugged me and I hugged her back, "what's up with your dad?"

"Oh - he's trying to get information through his old clinic contacts…"

I nodded in understanding and then asked, "He's still upstairs?"

Alice nodded and I proceeded towards his room waving to Jasper, Esme and Carlisle as I passed.

When I reached the top of the landing I took a deep breath, not sure what I was going to find. I didn't bother knocking when I reached the door and just went in, upon entry I found Edward lying in bed on top of his covers, face smashed in his pillow, with the blinds closed and the lights off, there was just a bit of light leaking in which illuminated the room just enough to see where things were but otherwise it was a cave of darkness. I sat on the edge of the bed next to him and placed my hand on his back and just rubbed calmly trying to get him to at least meet me half away, for I knew this was not going to be easy.

I moved my hand from his back and started running it through his hair while saying those stupid generic phrases no one actually wants to hear like, "it will be ok" "you can't assume the worst" "keep your hopes up" when I realized I sounded like a bad greeting card I shut up and just kept running my hand up and down his neck. I eventually laid on the bed too and soon after that he grabbed my hand and just squeezed it and we stayed like that until we both fell asleep.

I woke up around 5pm and looked at the beautiful angel resting in my arms and wished out loud that he would be ok. He rolled to face me and opened his eyes just then and said, "I'm sorry if I worried you." I looked him straight in his frustration stained, tear smudged eyes and put my arms around him saying, "Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm just so worried Bella."

I rocked him back and forth while swallowing hard and saying, "I know - I know you are."

He broke the embrace, wanting to sit up and stretch and slowly asked about the rest of his family, "What are the others doing?"

"Well your mom's making sandwiches -"

"She always does that when something's wrong." He chuckled darkly.

"Alice is sitting with Jasper, basically staring blankly at the weather channel….and your dad is trying to get information through a series of phone calls to his old clinic contacts…"

"And you?

"And me? I responded.

"How are you? Tanya was your friend too."

"I'm holding it together - how are you?"

"Well, if this wasn't enough - um not good." He laughed darkly again.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this - I wish there was something more I could do…"

"You're doing plenty" he softened as he said that and sat next to me leaning his head on my shoulder. Soon after Alice cracked the door open and informed us they were all eating sandwiches down stairs if we wanted to join them, I looked at Edward and he said, "yeah - we'll be down in a second…"

"Listen," he said once Alice had vacated the door way, "thank you for being hear and I'm so glad you are - but don't feel obligated."

"Edward - I want to be here - yes I want to support you and your family, but like you said - Tanya was my friend too - and I want to be with people I love." I squeezed his hand as I finished.

"Has anyone told Jake?" Edward questioned

"Oh - um - yeah…Alice had Jasper go down to the reservation - he didn't take it well…he wanted to be here but he had tribe responsibilities to take care of but told us to keep him informed if we hear anything…."

"I could only imagine what he's feeling" Edward stammered, " if something were to ever happen to he woman I loved," he pulled me in close, "I have no idea what I would do…" he kissed me before continuing, "and this is a bad enough feeling…."

We ate sandwiches in silence and then the phone rang. Esme answered it and very quickly her face distorted in an ugly sort of way I never wanted to see again, she hung up and not that we hadn't figured it out but she informed us they'd found Tanya - the winds had loosened a piece of utility equipment and while she was walking from the plane into the airport it hit her and knocked her down unconscious, she was taken to the nearest hospital but because she hadn't picked up her luggage yet she had no id on her , it wasn't until later in the day that they put together that her unclaimed bags were in fact hers and they were able to contact her family. She had extreme internal bleeding and it wasn't long after her family arrived that she passed.

After hearing the news, it was like walls broke down all around all the hope and holding out had in fact brought us face to face with a moment of pure disappointment and despair. Esme's face was balled up and eyes were slowly leaking tears, Alice got wide eyed as tears brimmed to the corners of her eyes and began to pour down her cheeks, taking solace in Jasper's shoulder while Jasper himself had a locked look to his chin and jaw keeping his eyes very focused at some unknown point in the distance. Carlisle's face fell into a frown as small tears rolled down the surface of his face and Edward was sitting taking deep breaths for what felt like minutes before throwing his head into his hands as he began to rock side to side. I put an arm around him while my own eyes betrayed me letting tears flow freely down my face to my chin, dripping slowly down to my neck where they rolled down the remainder of my body as I sobbed. Edward took my hand in one of his as we experience the sadness over our friend together.

I don't know how much time went by before the Cullen's sprang into action: Jasper got a hold of Jacob and offered to pick him up but said he'd rather deal with it on his own; Alice called Rosalie and Emmett who were scheduled for a last summer visit next week but were going to see if they could change their flight to tomorrow; Carlisle made arrangements to send fruit baskets etc. as well as called Charlie to inform him of the circumstances and let him know that as long as it was ok I'd be staying with the Cullens the next few days - it was fine and Esme started cleaning up the kitchen. All the while Edward and I sat as time moved past us, me holding him and him just trying not to fall to pieces.

It was late when we finally made it into bed but it felt like we'd blinked and woken up the next morning, it was a beautiful day - a light breeze with a clear sky, not too hot or too cold. After cleaning the kitchen Esme planned out a small memorial service to have in the backyard once Emmett and Rosalie arrived, since the family wouldn't be able to attend Tanya's funeral. Rose and Emmett arrived quietly a little after noon and we had the service at 1. It was nice, we just simply went in a circle saying things we remembered about Tanya or just wanted to share and then Carlisle read a short passage that he said reminded him of Tanya. We concluded with Esme planting a small tree in the center of our circle and she asked Edward to play something on the guitar but he said no - everyone attributed it to his grief and we broke up to eat more of the billions of sandwiches Esme had made.

I stayed back and asked Edward what that was about, he said he just wasn't in the mood and so I let it go and we went to join the others. After the sandwiches Edward and I grabbed ice pops and went onto his front stoop and sat as we ate them, holding hands in silence. There were birds chirping in the distance and I smiled.

"What are you smiling about?" Edward asked quizzically, as it was sort of out of nowhere.

"The birds - their chirping's making like a melody - Tanya would've loved it…"

Edward nodded and then smiled too, "Yeah - your right - she would've."

We were silent a bit longer and then Edward turned to me with a sad look in his eyes, "Listen Bella - this is going to sound awful - but I can't think of an eloquent way to say this right now - could you go home? I'm sorry - I just- I think I need some space…..and some time to just think through this and get to a better place - I'm so grateful you've been here the past few days and you kept me from falling into a place I wouldn't want to be but I don't think I can work through this with you contstantly being around - I'm sorry. Please understand. Please don't be mad… are you mad?" He had such a fearful look in his eyes I couldn't even attempt to be mad.

"Edward - of course I'm not mad - I understand. Just call me when you're ready - I guess…"

I got up to go gather my things and before I got away he grabbed my hand and we looked at each other, he stared into my eyes and almost at a whisper said, "I love you" with an intensity I'd never seen.

"I love you too." I said with a small smile as I headed in to get my things and say goodbye to his family.

Five days passed and I hadn't heard from him, I was willing to give him a week but then I got a phone call from Alice.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

"Bella, how are you doing?"

"I've been ok- I mean not great, but coping I guess - how are you? How's Edward?"

"We're all doing ok - trying to keep moving I guess - it's been nice having Rosalie around…I think her and Emmett might get engaged like any day now" Alice said with a laugh, " but listen - um - I'm worried about Edward - I know you probably don't know this but he plays the piano like every day, and if not the piano then his guitar…he hasn't been playing - at all. He's been calm - no tears since that first round - but I think he's more upset then he's letting on…it's like he's shutting down or something…"

"Alice, he sent me away - he wants to work though it alone - I can't intrude on his grieving…."

"You are his girlfriend. And he loves you. Please Bella?"

I paused trying to figure out what to do, weighing the pros and cons and figured if I don't go over he might forget about me, losing his love in his los…. "I'll be right over."

On my ride over Alice called and told me she told Edward I was coming over to see her because she'd asked me to - just so I wouldn't be thwarted at the door - I was eternally grateful.

He seemed normal, a bit more quiet, a bit more distant but all in all to the outsider normal - but there were little subtlties that were off - the sound of his voice, the look in his eyes, the way he carried himself, his posture - he was definitely not ok…

We ate dinner and afterward Emmett stood up and announced he had something he needed to ask Rosalie. He got down on one knee, confessed his eternal love and asked for her hand in marriage. She teared up and said yes and we all cheered - my body ached to lean into Edward's in this happy romantic moment, but as I was here to "see Alice" I was sitting next to Alice who was also sitting next to Jasper….I looked across the table to try and meet Edwards gaze but his eyes were vacant as if he almost wasn't even here….

Esme was serving cake for dessert when Edward got up and left the table, heading out the front door - I immediately got up and followed him. He was just standing on the porch and so I joined him in his silence - not even attempting to touch him…there was no way to tell how much time had passed before Edward broke the silence saying, "That cloud over that way looks like a dolphin."

I was struck by the abrupt presence of his voice as well as the randomness of his statement, but I went along with it saying "yeah - your right." I paused for a second or two before adding, "that one over there looks like a swan."

Edward laughed as he sat and began slowly shaking his head as he said, "Tanya would say this is way lame."

"I second that."

We laughed awkwardly as we resettled into our silence on the stoop. Time passed and then I spoke up, "I brought something for you?"

He looked at me in wonder, "what's that?"

"So Tanya once threw this quote at me - 'where words leave off, music begins' - and I was thinking maybe no one can say anything to make you feel better but maybe music could - and I was cleaning up the tree house and I found this in the CD player - Tanya gave it to me at the beginning of her visit - it's the CD the two of you made, she thought I might want to hear some of your stuff sicne she knew how private you are about it…"

Edward stared at the CD like it was the Holy Grail and took it from me as if it were something to be revered, "Thank you Bella."

I should have stopped there but I continued saying, "Edward - Alice told me you haven't been playing, and I just - I think it would be an awful shame if you let those gifts of yours go to waste unused…

He tried to interrupt me, "Bella…" but I continued, "you shouldn't let this stop you from playing, from doing something you love."

He was clenching his fists by the end of my speech, "Bella - you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I'm not not playing because I'm upset - I'm not playing because every note of music rips my insides to shreds and makes me feel like bleeding to death because the mere memory of her is too much to bear and I think of her every time I even look at instrument because news flash she taught me to play, she encouraged me, she supported me - she was my melody. Ok? Happy? I 'talked about it!' Are you happy? This is why I just wanted you to stay away - so will you go now? Will you leave me alone?"

I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't even muster a voice. I turned and left, just got in my truck and drove away. More days passed, now with the added sadness of the fight with Edward on top of the already numbing sadness from the news about Tanya. But I was not going to be the one to cross camp lines this time.

I'll Be Seeing You

Edward's POV

"Jasper?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

Jasper and I were sitting on the couches in my living room on an awful rainy day, 3 days after what I was starting to call the "worst decision in my life". Why I had lashed out at Bella when she totally didn't deserve it? I don't know. Why I hadn't gone over to her house and apologized yet? I don't know.

"She loves you - of course she will…." Was Jasper's reasonable answer.

"But I was awful."

"Yep you were" Alice walked into the room - "She was on the phone with me for hours - weeping."

I bashed my head against the table, Esme walked in, "Edward. Stop that. Now I'm glad you're starting to move past you're grief from Tanya but I'm not going to let you sit around moping about the fight you had with Bella - get off the couch, be the man I know you are and fix it, do something about it. Do not sit here and mope about it."

"You're moms right dude" was Jasper's last bit of infinite wisdom.

That's how I found myself standing in front of Bella's front door with a bouquet of daisies. When she answered the door my breath caught in my throat - I had no idea what I should say, "I'm sorry." I jumped right in.

She let me in and I explained that I was sorry, and why I thought it had happened and how I can't believe it did happen and that it would never ever happen again as long as she'd still be my girlfriend because she was still the love of my life an dI was lost without her and had not been able to function properly while missing her - she smiled at the end of my schpeel and said that she still loved me to and that I was forgiven but that she was leaving to see her mom the next day for a week before moving into her dorm at Princeton.

My world came crashing to the floor all over again.

She apologized but before she could get another word out I asked her to come with me; she had gotten accustomed to my abrupt spur of the moment journeys so she went with it and got in my car - I felt the need to keep explaining my behavior so on the ride over I explained to Bella what Tanya had meant to me and why the moments before the fight had triggered me lashing out, basically everything I had been screaming about in a much calmer, subdued, relaxed, more eloquent way.

We reached my special spot and climbed the fence in silence, the sun was setting and soon after the dark fell upon us there was a beautiful burst of light flying across the sky - it was a comet, Jasper had told me about it weeks ago because I was looking for something special to do today - Bella and I's anniversary. As the comet flew across the sky I held her close and asked in a whisper in her ear, "Do you know what today is?"

She sighed, "Of course I know what today is - I wasn't sure if you remembered."

"I'll always remember."

"Edward - I've been thinking - what should we do while we're at school - I mean, we're not parting on the best note and we are going to be separated by some distance - we're going to be busy….I don't know what to do."

I attempted to kiss her neck while saying, "We'll make it work" but she pulled away and said, "I don't think it will be that easy."

"You don't want to try?" I questioned her.

"I don't want to be heartbroken all over again if it doesn't work."

I nodded taking that into consideration - I didn't want her to hurt because of me - especially while she was supposed to be having fun and making friends and having new experiences.

"So what do we do?" I asked

She shook her head and hugged me, "I don't know - be friends" she said with a dark laugh.

"Yeah - I - ok - so we're friends." I was shaking my head, hating the idea and that I was going along with it, but what was I going to do? I already hurt her once…

We drove home with the radio tuned to the station we picked up in the tree house - we had finally figured out the call numbers - and as we drove sweet melodies and lyrics filled the car and engulfed us.

"_I'll be seeing you. In all the familiar places…"_

I pulled up to her house and as she was about to get out I grabbed her wrist, and looked her in the eyes and said, "I don't want to be without you."

She smiled and looked like she was fighting back tears, "you won't be - I'm your friend."

I watched her walk into her house and then drove away wondering what my life was about to become.

**Ok everyone! I hope you liked it - if you want to know the fate of our star crossed pair tune into the Epilogue which will be posted shortly. Please review! **


	17. Epilogue

**Hey everyone - thank you so much for making this far - we've reached the epilogue and you're about to discover what exactly happened to our lovely pair….I hope you enjoy! Please Please Please Review! And thank you all once again for reading - I hope you enjoyed!**

**DISCLAIMER: Recognizable characters and such are Steph Meyer's where as the plot and anything new is mine :D**

FOUR YEARS LATER

Bella's POV:

Well, it was my last winter in Forks before moving to NYC in the summer - it felt sort of weird knowing she'd probably never see the frozen lakes or deep snow mounds again, then again she'd grown accustomed to the feeling of not seeing things - or people - again… She had accidentally left the new book she was reading in the airport terminal and so she was headed to the book store to hopefully find a good read.

Edward's POV:

It never ceased to amaze him how weird it felt to be back in Forks as a college graduate. Almost everyone he knew had moved on, moved out but he had spent so much time away he was comforted in a weird sort of way by staying around - at least till after New Year's when he would be moving to NYC. He had just finished a really great book called _The Shack_ but was starting to get a little stir crazy so he had gone to the book store with hopes of finding something that would pique his interest. He was rounding the classical section when he saw her - she hadn't changed much - soft wavy dark brown hair flowing just past her shoulder, pale white, ivory skin glistening - she'd matured a bit in how she carried her self and was wearing a nice sweater as opposed to a bulky sweatshirt but it was her without a doubt, he was headed toward her when she turned in his direction.

Bella's POV:

"Edward!" I couldn't believe my eyes - I had been searching through the classics trying o find one I hadn't dissected at school yet and as I turned I saw him - no doubt about it- tall, lean yet muscular build, auburn mane, gorgeous eyes - it was totally him, despite looking a bit more intense, a product of the years gone by I assumed.

"Bella - wow - it really is you - God, it's been…"

"Four years….it's been four years - basically…."

"Oh wow - yeah - so - oh my god - are you graduating this spring?"

"Yeah - yeah it went by in the blink of an eye….what have you been up to? You graduated last year right?"

"Yep -graduated - been hanging around home since graduation - writing some music…how have you been?"

The fact he was playing again did not escape me and I was elated - but didn't show it - he hadn't called me in FOUR YEARS! He was the one who swore he couldn't live without me….I wrote him a letter, he'd replied but that was about it, I called him once - he never called back…. - I kept thinking I'd see him in Forks and we'd straighten things out but it never happened….

"I've been great! Just back for a last visit before graduation - lost my book at the airport…."

"Do you want to go grab some coffee?" Edward had an intensity to him when he asked that I couldn't refuse.

"Sure…."

We walked down the street in awkward silence, were seated and ordered before either of us muttered one consequential word but then,

"I'm sorry I never called you back. I kept putting it off and creating reasons not to and then I thought I would see you over winter break but you weren't here."

"I visited my mom that first winter - I was going try to talk to you about it that summer but you weren't here…so I took an internship in the city to get away from - to just let myself unwind"

"Why didn't you call?"

"Why didn't you?"

"Touché…I was home that next spring - where were you?"

"I did a study program in Kenya - I actually studied away every spring and even some summers…"

"Really?"

"London, Kenya, France, Italy, and Africa this once coming…"

"So you traveled."

"Yeah - I did… What about that next summer? I mean I know I wasn't here the whole time but Alice told me you weren't here at all that summer…."

"I was in Turks…" I went back and helped with the clean up…every winter and summer up until my graduation…"

"So you went back and helped…"

"Yeah - for different reasons then I'd originally planned though….it actually really helped me deal with getting past everything that happened with Tanya…"

"I'm glad."

"So, after graduation - plans?"

"I have a job offer…"

"Nice - how's your mom?"

"She's great - how's the rest of your family? I mean I hear a lot from Alice but I haven't talked to her in a couple of weeks since she went on that peace corps trip with Jasper…"

Edward laughed, "Yeahh - Alice, Jasper and the Peace Corps - that was a new one for us - everyone's good though, my mom and dad are selling the house for an RV - they want to travel, and are making plans for a trip to Turks…Rosalie and Emmett are expecting….I'm moving to NYC, job offer."

"You are? When?"

I smiled at her excitement, "Right after New Years - I'm pretty excit-"

"Edward! MY job offer is in NYC, too!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Small world…"

"Do you ever won-"

"Wonder what would have happened if we'd stayed together? If there'd been no distance between us to make us question us being together? Every fucking day."

Bella laughed at my explitive, "I do too. All the time….Have you been with -"

"No. Not one single person."

"Me neither. Could never seem to move on from - "

"I know - me too…"

"Do you think - do you think we could ever have what we had again?"Bella asked timidly.

"I think so - I mean, I don't know about you but - I never stopped loving you."

"I still love you too - every time I came back to Forks I'd hope to see you and I'd always be let down - so I stopped coming…it hurt to much to be let down like that…"

"I'm sorry Bella if I'd only known…."

"Well it was a 2 way street - I should have swallowed my pride and called…."

"So you want to try it? One more time?"

"One more time."

And with that I took Bella's hand in mine.

TEN YEARS LATER

Well, I'm 32 years old, it's Christmas and I'm in Forks as I look around I can't believe the road that's led to this moment. Charlie, Carlisle and Esme are chatting lively about Christmases of yesteryear when we were all small. Rosalie is helping her 2 daughters make sugar cookies while Emmett flies there new born son around the room airplane style. Alice is expecting and is sitting with her feet raised while Jasper plays with trucks with their 4 year old son. Edward is rolling on the floor chasing our 3 year old daughter while I hold our one year old son observing the scene. After I graduated it was only a short time before Edward and I were engaged and married, we still live in New York City with our kids, as do Rosalie and Emmett and even Alice and Jasper joined us once they returned from the Peace Corps but we all come out to Forks and rent a huge cabin for Christmas every year. As I reflected on all that's happened throughout the years Edward sneeks up behind me, wraps his arms around me and kisses my neck, "I'm so glad you came back to me - time after time, you came back to me."

I turn and face him, our son in between us, fast asleep on my shoulders, and look my husband right in the eyes and say , "Well, some things are just meant to be" before kissing him sweetly.

THE END.


End file.
